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A Microsoft BASIC Simulation
of Rubik’s Cube

Features

Heath/Zenith Computers:

An Interview and Overview

John Walker and David Johnstone 4

Growth seems to be the keynote of the Heath/Zenith market¬
place these days. We give you here some of the dollars and
cents of that growth with an interview of Donald P. Moffet,
president of Zenith Data Systems. Plus an overview and
evaluation of what makes this microcomputer marketplace
different from the others.

A Professional Writer Looks at Budget Word Processing
Hugh Kenner 14

With an Introduction by William F. Buckley, Jr.

Colorful graphics for business meetings and
training sessions — such as the 35 mm slide
shown below—can be produced with your
Zenith computer and a little imagination.

How to Turn Zenith Screen Graphics into Color Slides
F. X. “Skip”Millor 25

Benton Harbor BASIC Tests Typing Reaction Time

Raymond Dotson 30

If you want to increase your typing speed and maybe make a
game out of it, too, this program is made to order.

Print Spoolers: A Background and Reviews of Six
Software Products to Break Your Printer Bottleneck

Kenneth A. Patrick 32

As your system or your demands grow more complex, you may
not like having your computer sitting around doing nothing
until your printer has finished tapping out already processed
data. Spooling is the software to take care of that. Here we
give a brief history of spoolers and reviews of six spoolers of
interest to the Heath/Zenith user.

Rubik’s Cube: A Computer Simulation
in Microsoft BASIC

Arthur A. Frost 43

Issue No. 1, Spring 1982

Disk Programming Without HDOS

Richard E. Smith 48

There will be times and purposes when programmers will
want to do without their computer’s operating system and do
it all themselves. So how is it done? Easily!

A Candid Look at Tiny Pascal

Arnold R. Madeira 53

Pascal is a great language for learning good programming
skills. It costs $325. Its little brother, Tiny Pascal, may be
more in line with your budget.

A Parallel Interface for the ’89

J.C.Hassall 61

What’s a Company Like Zenith
Doing in the Computer Business?

Jerry K. Pearlman 7 5

Jerry K. Pearlman is the Zenith Radio Corporation executive
responsible for their computer business. These remarks are
the best thing we’ve seen so far to explain how Zenith views
their role in the microcomputer market.

Departments

The Editorial Eye 1

Index to Advertisers 64

Classified Ads 80

Luminaries 80

Hugh Kenner explains how he uses a $65
word processing package to produce maga¬
zine articles for The New York Times Book
Review , Harper's , and National Review.

Want to add a parallel port to your
H/Z89, or simply get an inside
view of how the computer handles
input and output of information?

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CIRCLE #101 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Photo by Sarah E. Juram.

There are two groups of Zenith computer users who had a lot to do with bringing SEXTANT into
being. First, the 5,000 subscribers to Buss: The Independent Newsletter of Heath Co.
Computers, whose confidence in us took the tangible expression of sextant subscription checks
mailed as much as six months in advance. Some of these subscribers are also the advertisers
whose ability to believe six impossible things before breakfast will no doubt prove a crucial
factor in whatever commercial success they achieve. Others are the authors vho suffered
through the informalities of our shakedown cruise.

The second group consists of about six hundred people who declined to subscribe to Buss
even after having seen a copy. Their comments suggested a market for a thicker publication
more accessible to the novice Zenith user, but still interesting to the expert.

★

I should also express my appreciation of Elizabeth Dillon, who insisted her ninth grade
students turn in some written creation every Monday. The latitude of form she permitted was
probably as important as the regularity of the requirement. I recently remarked to Bill Buckley

202/544-0484

Editorial Desk

Charles Floto
Editor
Publisher

Pamela Juram

Assistant Publisher
Director of Advertising

John Walker

Technical Editor

Sharon E. Conaway

Circulation Manager
Production Assistant

Cover photo by Charles Floto and Sarah E. Juram.

202/544-2868

Advertising Inquiries

202/544-2867

Author’s Inquiries

202/544-0900

Subscription Service

Sextant is published quarterly by Sextant Publishing Co., 716 E St.
SE, Washington, DC 20003.

Copyright ^1982 by Sextant Publishing Co. All rights reserved. No
part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced
without written permission from the publisher. Printed in USA by
Everybodys Press, Hanover, PA 17331. Second-class postage applica¬
tion pending at Washington, DC and at additional mailing offices.
Postmaster: Please send Form 3579 to Sextant, 716 E St. SE,
Washington, DC 20003. ISSN 0731-2180

Subscription rates: 1 year (4 issues) in U.S. — $9.97, in Canada and
Mexico—$11.50, overseas-$14.00. Payment accepted by check in
U.S. dollars payable on a U.S. bank, by U.S. and international
postal money order, and by Visa and MasterCard.

“Heath” and “Heathkit” are trademarks of the Heath Company.
“CP/M” is a trademark of Digital Research.

Sextant Spring 1982 1

that I consider writing the worst form of torture. On the other hand, it feels so good when it
stops.

★

In January I spoke to a retailer who, after years of selling Zenith televisions, recently took on
the Zenith Data Systems line. He told of visiting the Chicago headquarters and hearing a vice
president chortle over Zenith plans to out-IBM IBM.” The merchant’s only complaint was that
Zenith lacked a low end machine he could sell against Atari home computers.

That conversation suggests that Zenith’s having a home computer will aid in signing up
retailers for Zenith Data Systems. More retailers means more sales. With an increased ZDS
advertising effort, more software producers will realize we exist as a potential market for their
products.

It’s going to be a lot more fun for all of us in 1982; no longer will Zenith be the overlooked
computer company.

★

It looks as if Zenith will be the first computer manufacturer to actively support a national
conference for its customers. Bill Parrott, who works on software for D-G Electronic
Developments Co., came up with the idea. Zenith’s reaction was to grab the ball and run with it.
The Heath Users’ Group announced in late January that the starting date was expected to be
between July 8th and August 6th. Plans are to start on Friday evening, continue Saturday and
Sunday, and offer a tour of the Heath Co. factory on Monday. HUG is seeking suggestions for
the program, and invited the Capital Heath Users’ Group to choose the co-chairman. CHUG’s
hundreds of members are located around the world a well as encircling the District of
Columbia; I feel their involvement will be crucial to the project’s success.

The rest of us should offer to help as well. If we sit back and let HUG do all the work, we’ll
be passing up a chance to enhance the welfare of the entire Zenith computer community. If you
can t make it to the conference yourself, you’ll be able to read all about it afterwards. Send your
program suggestions to Heath Users’ Group, Hilltop Road, Saint Joseph, MI 49085.

★

As a newsletter editor, I’ve always considered magazines a poor way to publish news. Most
of the material in them is at least two months old. For example, our schedule calls for getting
this issue to the printer February 8th. On the other hand, magazines do have advantages in the
graphic tools available for communication. Don’t be surprised if this magazine exhibits a bias
toward coverage of events that call for use of these tools.

★

We do expect to be covering a couple of significant new products from Zenith this year.
Our research will include meetings with key Heath/Zenith executives. They want their
customers to have full information of Zenith products, but don’t want to tip off the competition
too far in advance. Our summer issue is scheduled to be mailed about the time of the National
Computer Conference, a traditional forum for new product announcements. With a little bit of
luck, we should be able to have some news for you about then. If you want to be sure of getting
the news without depending on the luck, turn to the three penultimate pages of this issue for an

2 Sextant Spring 1982

ad describing our newsletter published four times as frequently as the magazine.

★

Speaking of ads, you’ll see many in this issue which are available in no other publication.
The enterprises they represent vary quite a bit in size; some are well-established and some are
part-time efforts. Some of the vendors serving the Zenith marketplace haven’t yet achieved such
trappings of legitimacy as a daytime phone number and membership in the local Chamber of
Commerce. Many of the products represent excellent values because they aren’t expected to
support such overhead.

Just as the Zenith marketplace is too small to support a full-time staff to sell a single special¬
ized product, it’s too small to attract dishonest advertisers. It doesn’t make any sense to plan on
not shipping your “product’’ to Zenith owners, when for the same amount of trouble you could
fail to ship it to hundreds of thousands of additional Apple and Radio Shack owners.

★

We’re trying to get the magazine into as many computer stores as possible to increase the
visibility of Zenith products and demonstrate how well supported they are. We’d appreciate
your asking your local retailer to keep it on hand.

★

One thing I like about being an editor is that it leads to personal contact with my readers. I’d
like to know what you think of the magazine, so drop me a line with your suggestions for future
issues. If you have any questions it’s probably best to call me at 202/544-0484. This line won’t
be answered if I’m not available. See page 1 for our other telephone numbers.

Two people in particular made this magazine
possible: Carl and Dorothy. Dorothy, as she would
be quick to point out, deserves most of the credit.
Carl spent much of his life at sea. Dorothy studied
celestial mechanics.

I love them both very much, and will try to
make sextant worthy of their memory.

Sextant Spring 1982 3

Heath/Zenith Computers:

An Interview and Overview

— John Walker and David Johnstone —

Heath/Zenith computers to show 50% gain,
Moffet predicts

When 1981 sales figures are tabulated, Zenith
Radio Corporation's computer business should reach
a volume of more than $65 million: about a 50
percent increase over 1980's $43.6 million.

That was the prediction of Donald P. Moffet,
president of Zenith Data Systems Corporation
(ZDS). In an interview with sextant correspond¬
ent David Johnstone, Mr. Moffet said the increase
might go as high as 60 percent, with sales totalling
$70 million. In a year that has been tightly compet¬
itive for television manufacturers like Zenith, those
figures are very easy to take.

Zenith's Computer Business Group includes
ZDS and the Heath Company's computer effort.
Although it accounts for only a small part of
Zenith's total sales dollars, it is an important part
of the company's plans for the future. In one sense,
those plans are being shaped today. In another
sense, things began more than fifty years ago. Our
interview with Mr. Moffet and our product review,
below, emphasize the things that are happening
today. Our other comments attempt to fill in some
of the background and draw some possible conclu¬
sions about the future.

SEXTANT interviews head of Zenith Data
Systems

sextant’s David Johnstone recently interviewed
Donald P. Moffet, president of Zenith Data Sys¬
tems, at ZDS offices in Glenview, Illinois. With
final 1981 sales figures still being processed as
sextant went to press, our brief interview zeroed
in on Mr. Moffet’s estimates of ZDS’s performance
in the last year. The most important figure that
emerged was his prediction of a 50 or possibly 60
percent increase in sales over 1980. His other
comments, however, also emphasized the growth
that had taken place in both sales and personnel.

Speaking of the sales and marketing operation
there in Glenview, he pointed out that "a year ago,
we had not more than two field men; today, we
have ten in the field and 25 people in this build¬
ing.”

He indicated that ZDS's distribution effort had

grown similarly. "As late as June 30, we had eight
distributors; today, there are 24," he said, refer¬
ring to them as providing ZDS with "a strong
regional network".

Growth has also been reflected in an expansion

Donald P. Moffet
President, Zenith Data Systems

of physical plant. ZDS grew to the point where
additional office space was required, and it moved
to its current space at 950 Milwaukee Avenue in
Glenview, about a half-mile from Zenith’s corpo¬
rate and administrative center at 1000 Milwaukee
Avenue.

Some software people are also working in the
area, at Zenith’s Austin Avenue plant in Chicago.
Production, though, is centered at the Heath Com-

4 Sextant Spring 1982

Introducing —

THE NEW H8* COMPUTER

* H8 is a Registered Trademark of the Heath Company

PC Board Mounts Additional Pair of
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Optional 40 Pin Connector Assembly
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PC Board $ 75.00

25 Pin Gold Connectors - Set of 20 $45.00

- Build Motherboard to Original H8 Standard

20 Pin Gold Connectors - Set of 18 $34.00

- Add Additional 40 Pins for 90 Pin Bus

25 Pin Gold Connectors - Set of 14 $35.00

- Add 7 Auxiliary Card Positions

Additional Ground Connections
For Reliable Operation

8 Additional Data Bits For 16 Bit CPU Board

Additional Address Lines For Expanded
Memory Capacity

Bank Select Lines For Memory Management

Additional Lines For Special Control Signals
and Future Defined Functions

Power Supply Parts for Motherboard $16.00

- Includes Extra +18 Volt Filter Capacitor

Bus Termination Card - Complete Kit $29.50

PC Board Connector Expansion Kit $15.00

- Adapts Original H8 PC Boards to 90 Pin Bus:
Contains PC Board, Two 20 Pin Connectors,
Mounting Blocks and Hardware - One Kit
Required Per PC Board

The new T-H90 Motherboard has been designed to provide completely reliable operation of the H8
computer through the use of gold-plated connectors and a well grounded bus. The bus has. been
expanded from 50 to 90 lines and 7 additional card slots have been added. Full implementation of
the Motherboard functions will transform the H8 into a commercial grade computer.

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Hardware: H8/H19 or H89 with two 5 V 4 " drives. Printer
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Order from:

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^ CIRCLE #102 ON READER SERVICE CARD

pany’s headquarters in Benton Harbor/Saint Jo¬
seph, Michigan. There, a $2 million addition to the
plant has been completed, bringing the facility to
540,000 square feet.

Mr. Moffet’s prediction of a 50 to 60 percent
increase in sales would appear to put ZDS ahead of
predictions for market-wide growth. Robert K.
Reid, ZDS vice president for marketing, had else¬
where pointed out that industry analysts expect an
annual unit sales growth rate of more than 30%
through 1984. Domestic industry retail sales are
expected to increase from 1979’s 300,000 units
sold to 1.3 million units in 1984. Sales of video
terminals are expected to grow at a 20 to 30
percent annual rate through 1984.

Looking to the future, Mr. Moffet expects
microcomputer demand to be greatest and most
rapidly developed among small business. He par¬
ticularly mentioned companies whose operations
range from “a couple hundred thousand to $20
million”; the legal and administrative department
managers of Fortune 1000 companies; and self-
employed professionals. These three, he said, “are
the fastest growing part of the business.”

Background: the Heath-Zenith connection

In October 1979, Zenith Radio Corporation
acquired the Heath Company of Benton Harbor,
Michigan. Small by comparison with Zenith, the

Heath Company is nonetheless the world’s largest
manufacturer of kit-form electronics. The high-
technology company was started in 1926 by Edward
Bayard Heath with, for the time, a very high-
technology beginning. It was a kit for building an
airplane: a high-wing monoplane called the “Para¬
sol”. For today’s technology, though, the major
development came just after World War II. Under
the company’s owner at the time, Howard Anthony,
Heath Company combined war surplus parts to
offer a high quality oscilloscope kit at $39.95. On
that success, the company built itself into the
unquestioned leader in build-it-yourself electron¬
ics. Heathkit” has become virtually synonymous
with electronics kits.

Heath now markets more than 400 kit products
in the United States, Canada, and Europe through
mail order catalogs and more than 70 retail stores,
the Heathkit Electronic Centers (HECs). The com¬
pany also produces self-paced learning programs,
texts, and training equipment for electronics, com¬
puter programming, weather, and ham radio. Class¬
room versions are available for most of these
courses.

The computer connection

In its purchase of the Heath Company, howev¬
er, Zenith may have found one aspect of Heath’s
broad product line more important than the others.
Interestingly, it is an area that many of the general
public—and many professionals — may find an un¬
likely subject for the home kit builder: computers.
We are only in the past few years considering the
use of computers in the home. Building them at
home seems to strike many as so much science
fiction. Yet Heathkit computers have sold and sold
well. They account today for about 40 percent of
the Heath Company’s total sales.

Some sort of “mental block” about computers
being built at home, as it happens, may account for
the fact that Heath/Zenith computers are so fre¬
quently overlooked in computer industry analyses
and media accounts. Yet there are a lot of personal
computers out there with the labels “Zenith” and
“Heathkit” on them.

A recent issue of Computer Retailing pointed
out that Heath/Zenith is probably number three in
the number of personal computers being sold
today. And, in the words of Carl Warren, the
article’s author, Heath/Zenith “is reportedly push¬
ing Apple for number two”. Estimates vary, and
they are confused by differences over what ought
to be included in the figures and what ought not.
Sorting things out is more of an art than a science,
but a recent article in InfoWorld tends to support
that number three estimate. According to figures
in their September 14, 1981 issue, Heath/Zenith
came in at number five in 1980 sales figures.
Attempting to factor our number three Commo¬
dore’s overseas sales, Heath/Zenith would seem to
come in at around number three or four in the

6 Sextant Spring 1982

number of units sold annually in the United States.
The Heath/Zenith product mix

To Zenith, that sizeable—and underrated—
chunk of the home computer market must have
been attractive. Combined with Zenith’s already
existing distribution capability and name recogni¬
tion, it made a very promising mix of possibilities
for the future. Upon Heath’s purchase by Zenith,
assembled versions of important Heath computer
products were given a Zenith nomenclature for
sale through Zenith channels. The Heath H89
all-in-one computer became the Zenith Z89; the
H19 terminal became the Z19, and so on. In
general, the assembled equipment bears the Ze¬
nith label, the kit form still carries the Heathkit
name.

The quick mix of the Zenith name and the
Heath technology came as no surprise. Calling a
company like Zenith simply a “television manufac¬
turer’’ is a convenient oversimplification. The com¬
panies active in television are, and want to remain,
on the leading edge of electronics technology that
can be used in the home. They also want to extend
their activities as much as possible into the small
business market. The “information explosion” that
is taking place in business is also taking place in
the home. The business people who use microcom¬
puters at work this year may buy their own for use

like Zenith were to let themselves be shut out of
the office of the future, their presence in the home
of the future would be greatly reduced.

And plant capacity

There have been short term considerations,
too. The growth of the video terminal market must
look good to a television manufacturer. Good
enough, at least, that Zenith now offers its ZVM-121
Video Monitor. A low-cost 12-inch video monitor,
it was released late last year. This is perhaps one
product, however, that may not be pushed overly
much in the Heath marketplace. Housed in an
“orchard brown” cabinet, the new monitor is com¬
patible in styling, size, and color with the Apple II
and III microcomputers. That may raise a few
eyebrows among Heath loyalists who might com¬
pare it to Mercedes-Benz turning out spare parts
for Chryslers. But plant capacity is plant capacity
and Zenith refers to put it to work rather have it sit
idle.

And it was the spectre of the idle Zenith plant
capacity that opened up the Heathkit catalog to
something long-time buyers might not have ex¬
pected: the new furniture-building kits. Prompted
by unused capacity at Zenith’s TV cabinet opera¬
tions, it positions Heathkit for an interesting diver¬
sification into the home handyman field. Doing it
yourself, with class, need not be limited to elec-

at home next year.

The unavoidable fact of life is that if companies

tronics, it seems.

So, some predictable and some unexpected

DOUBLE DENSITY
DISK CONTROLLER

FOR THE HEATH/ZENITH 89 COMPUTER

Need additional disk storage capacity? Use this
controller board to add up to four 8" single- or
double-sided industry-standard drives, as well as
four 5" single- or double-sided, 40- or 80-track C48
or 96 TPI) drives to your ’89.

5-inch Double Density

Single Sided, 48tpi 162 KBytes

Double Sided, 48tpi 343 KBytes

Double Sided, 96tpi 700 KBytes

8-inch Double Density

Single Sided 594 KBytes

Double Sided 1210 KBytes

If your '89 isn’t ORG-O CP/M compatible yet, our
modification is available for an additional charge.

Ask for this controller at your local Heathkit or
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full compatibility with our support of other devices.
The Package Includes

• The Double Density disk controller card

• CP/M 2.2 on both 5" and 8" media

• An upgrade kit for the ’89s power supply

• New Monitor and I/O Decode PROMs

• Cables for both 5" and 8" drives

All for only

$595

order no 77316

See our other advertisements for details on
complete disk systems using this controller

CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research
CIRCLE #105 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Sextant Spring 1982 7

Introducing a SPELL, a new spelling

fivnillloi* proofreader, recognizes over

Olilimplf 50,000 English words. And it uses a
Faster dictionary which has been crunched by
' sophisticated algorithms into less than 31K

Better d ytes. T dat l eaves more disk space for

vvvwaj your documents. A nc j b ecause the whole

SDeiler. dictionar y fits int0 memory, SPELL runs

* faster than other spelling programs.

SPELL is engineered for ease of use. With a single
keystroke, you can mark a questionable word in your
original document, or add it to the dictionary. And it works
with files generated by most editors
and word processors, including
WordStar and Magic Wand.

What else about SPELL is smaller
and better? Its price: only $49.95.

Add $3 shipping for 8" CP/M disk,
$2 for 5" Heath/Zenith CP/M or
HDOS disk. Manual $2 if
ordered separately. CA
residents add tax.

Circle reader service
card for our catalog of
over 20 software
products.

Developer of SPELL,

* Dr. Robert Wesson,

N professional computer
scientist.

C 77£e Software c ToolW5rkg

14478 Glorietta Drive, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 (213) 986-4885
CIRCLE #103 ON READER SERVICE CARD

consequences have followed from the mix of needs,
technologies, and markets produced by Zenith’s
purchase of the Heath Company. How has it really
worked out? Finding the answer to that was why
we interviewed Mr. Moffet; and why we will, in
the future, be having other interviews and reports
on the background, the products, and the future of
Zenith Data Systems, the Heath Company, and
other parts of the Zenith Radio Corporation’s
Computer Business Group.

The product line

Heath/Zenith’s computer product line runs to
fourteen pages in the Heath catalog. Looking at it,
one fact emerges: Heath/Zenith has, and is devel¬
oping, a product line of sufficient breadth and
depth that the prospective business user should
have no fears concerning either hardware or soft¬
ware support.

The hardware line currently carried under the
Zenith Data Systems label goes from the “Entry
System ”, with the Z89 microcomputer and Z25 or
other printer, to the “High Capacity System” with
11 megabytes of storage, consisting of the Z89, the
Z67 Winchester drive, and either the Z25 line
printer or a letter quality printer such as the
Diablo.

The software offered similarly covers the range
of needs confronted by the business user. Business
applications and word processing offerings are

available, along with a database management sys¬
tem. Language/operating systems software and
utility programs are also presented.

That spread of hardware and software offer¬
ings may seem pretty unspectacular to many who
have been around the Heath user scene for a while.
It is sort of taken for granted. (Some would just
ask, why aren’t there more?) But a lot of people in
the business community know that they cannot
take support for granted. Many have been burned
badly by ill-supported offerings. Many have bought
systems only to find themselves without software,
or with equipment they could not upgrade. Or
both. A large company can hire programmers or
swallow the cost of new gear. Not so the little guy.
Read some magazine articles aimed to the small
business that wants to use microcomputers. A good
number of them will be horror stories, or articles
on how to avoid starring in your own horror story.
To the small business buyer, then, the range of
Heath/Zenith’s current offerings is a significant
reassurance.

The sales effort

The caliber of Heath/Zenith’s product line,
however, is no guarantee of success. Historically,
one criticism of Heath’s computer effort was that
they were satisfied with the kit market and were
not pushing themselves to the general market.
Which was, to some extent, understandable from
Heath’s point of view: if you want to build your
computer at home, there just “ain’t nobody else”
besides Heath. (The exception proves the rule: the
other personal computer offered in kit-form is the
Sinclair. At less than $100, it’s not exactly in the
same league as the H89.)

Zenith, however, does not have the supremacy
in its marketplace that Heath has among electron¬
ics kit builders. If they are to compete in the
all-in-one personal computer market, they are going
to have to market their product aggressively. The
Zenith name recognition will have no value if no
one knows there’s a computer with the name
“Zenith” on it. And questions have been raised
about Zenith’s success in getting into the new
specialty computer stores.

So far, Zenith’s response to these problems has
included two important factors. The first is a
marketing agreement whereby ZDS products will
be carried by the national ComputerLand chain.
The second has been a sales promotion effort
aimed at making it easier for dealers to carry
Zenith computers. The “Show ’n Sell” program is
designed to cover the dealer’s costs of financing
display and inventory units for Zenith’s line of
microcomputer systems. In addition, two sample
packages of business software are offered for
demonstration purposes at less then 10 percent of
their suggested retail price. The program has been
recently extended.

8 Sextant Spring 1982

Going beyond the showroom

To some extent, Zenith is just like “any other
microcomputer manufacturer ”. Zenith will have
the same marketing challenges and the same op¬
portunities as anyone else in the market. But to
some extent, Zenith will occupy an unusual niche.
This is because of the uniqueness of the Heath
Company and the impact that has had on the
people who make up the Heath user community.
Because the Heath computer has been offered so
heavily as a kit, the average Heath user is probably
the most technologically sophisticated user of any
microcomputer system. That expertise has pro¬
duced two important phenomena. One is the Heath
Users’ Groups, the HUGs. The other is the inde¬
pendent Heath/Zenith marketplace. In a business
where “support” is synonymous with success, these
may prove to be potentially the most important
resources Heath/Zenith can draw upon.

The Heath Users’ Groups

There are “two” HUGs, both important to the
Heath/Zenith user. The first is the one that shows
up in the Heathkit catalog. It’s located in St.
Joseph, Michigan, at the Heath Company head¬
quarters. In the words of BEMark, its magazine,
“HUG is provided by Heath Company as a service
to its members for the purpose of fostering the
exchange of ideas to enhance their usage of Heath

equipment.” This HUG is a national operation
which, besides providing a framework for feed¬
back, also provides services such as software offer¬
ings.

The local HUG

But there is another HUG, as well. This one is a
local HUG which meets somewhere not too far
from the user’s own home. This HUG operates
pretty much independently of the Heath Compa¬
ny, subject only to such obvious constraints as not
appropriating the company’s name to their own
use.

The local HUGs are as diverse as the towns and
cities where they meet. They range from as few as
three or four members to as many as three or four
hundred members. They are partly social, partly
educational, partly technical, partly economic in¬
stitutions. They provide bull sessions, lectures,
buying services, swap meets, software libraries,
computer bulletin boards, and mutual assistance
on practically anything else.

The membership

Their membership is as diverse as the reasons
for owning a personal computer. The novice users
stuck with a problem can bring it to the meeting
and come away at least started on the solution—
whether that solution entails basic education or a
sophisticated analysis of the equipment,software
and functions being handled. To many users, the

Final assembly of Zenith’s microcomputers is done on a continuous line at the St. Joseph,
Michigan plant. Power supplies, disk drives and keyboards are added on the far side of the
production line, with printed circuit boards inserted on the near side.

Sextant Spring 1982 9

local HUG is frequently the shortest route to
unsnarling a work situation or winning a game of
Galactic Experience.

The advanced user also finds a forum for the
interchange of ideas and opportunities. Some of
these people are in jobs where they use computers.
Some are hobbyists who regard computers as a
challenging game. Some of them are hobbyists
who have acquired the skills and knowledge of
professionals. Some of them are computer profes¬
sionals themselves. The common factor for the
“Heathkit” computer user may simply be that the
sheer act of building the computer has brought
about a better awareness of the problems and
opportunities of computer ownership and use. It is
a degree of awareness that does not seem to exist
in the users of any other brand of computer.

And for the new and prospective user of
Heath/Zenith computers, that body of skills and
understanding may be one of the greatest re¬
sources that any computer manufacturer could
offer.

The implications

For the future, the most interesting thing to
watch may be the impact that increasing numbers
of Z89 purchasers will have. Their problems are
not those of hobbyists or professionals experimenting
with the capabilities of their systems. But the
solutions to their problems will probably be made
a lot easier because of the experimentation of the

hobbyists and the professionals.

Already, at least some of the folks who bought
their Z89s only to balance their books are getting
into equipment modification and software writing.
According to one theory, some of them were just
latent hobbyists all along. Another theory would
point out that for some small businesses, it is just
cheaper to do it yourself. In any event, some of
those who bought their Z89s intending just to be
passive recipients of services have turned out to be
active participants in computer technology.

The independent marketplace

And if some people are moving from “business
people to technicians”, others are moving from
“hobbyists” to “business people”. Already, people
that were “just enthusiasts” have begun offering
their solutions to problems in the marketplace,
turning their hobby into businesses.

The growth of these businesses has made “the
Heath/Zenith marketplace” a lot bigger than it
might first seem. That marketplace has a lot more
products in it than just those with the names
“Heathkit” or “Zenith” on them.

There is now a marketplace out there that is
absolutely essential to the Heath/Zenith market¬
place but independent of Heath/Zenith. The
Heath/Zenith marketplace is not just a company or
companies that are part of Zenith’s Computer
Business Group. There is a small industry out

Zenith microcomputers going through the final test procedure before being boxed for
shipment. Each assembled microcomputer undergoes a 48-hour burn-in period, during which
the computer is exercised. Zenith also burns in each of its circuit boards for the computers for
48 hours prior to assembly.

10 Sextant Spring 1982

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Run the best supported and most highly developed CP/M*and
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connector provided.

BUSS SPACE IS FREE replaces 0-O.RG at rear of machine.
Includes status port with latched output - may be used as
O-ORG mod and side-select. All board functions are fully
addressable - keep up with H89*port decoder ROM upgrades.

Runs with the original 8080 CPU or the new Z80's at 2 and
4 MHz. Full-feature monitor ROM allows boot from MH8-37 or
HI 7* Works with any memory board. Requires CP/M*2.2.03
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Assembled MH8-37. 1 yr warranty and monitor ROM- $380
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(714) 632-8583

CIRCLE #107 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Sextant Spring 1982 11

there, providing goods and services designed spe¬
cifically for use with Heath/Zenith systems. These
independent companies produce software designed
for Heath/Zenith systems. They offer hardware
modifications designed for those computers. And
they offer services to the market generally, con¬
sulting services, say, using Heath/Zenith systems.

By way of example, the independent Heath/
Zenith marketplace can be compared to the “plug-
compatible” industry that has grown up around the
major mainframe computer manufacturers like
IBM. The plug compatibles enable the IBM user to
access services and capabilities not available from
IBM.

One big difference, of course, is that IBM has
historically viewed the plug compatibles with un¬
remitting hostility. Zenith, however, continuing
the practice of the Heath Company, has had
relations with the independents that have at least
been polite and have usually been cordial. You
need only check out the offerings in your nearest
Heathkit Electronic Center to see that Heath/Zenith
values the presence of the independents—values
them enough to market their products.

Again, it may be the importance of the hobbyist
that is at work here. When the major mainframe
computer companies see people “doing thin gs”
with their systems, they see them as adversaries.
In the Heathkit universe, such people aren’t
adversaries: they’re customers.

(Then again, a company like IBM’s perspective
may be based on the fact that they were there first.

^ UPGRADE YOUR HDOS CAPABILITY->

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DRIVERS WITH OUR ADDED OPTIONS.

Arguably, the independent Heath/Zenith computer
marketplace is older than Heath/Zenith comput¬
ers! The first issue of Buss newsletter, the inde¬
pendent newsletter of Heath Co. computers, was
distributed four months before the first Heath
computers ever made their way out of Benton
Harbor. It came out three months after Heath
Company first announced its plans to release some
sort of personal computer.)

For whatever reason, the result is that the
Heath/Zenith user has a remarkable range of
software and hardware support available. That
support, like Heath/Zenith volume, is growing. In
the first Buss Directory of independent Heath/
Zenith suppliers, compiled in the summer of 1980,
there were fewer than 60 entries. The latest,
released last fall, had more than 150. And with
that growth has come increasing sophistication. A
look at just the ads in this issue of sextant will
suffice to show that. (As an aside, the back cover
of this issue is the first use of a full color ad
by a company devoted purely to the Heath/Zenith
marketplace.)

The question, of course, is where everything’s
leading to.

The future

Well, presumably everything’s leading to the
future. And that’s what sextant hopes to bring to
you. In this premiere issue, we have tried to cover
the entire Heath/Zenith marketplace in one arti¬
cle. So we’ve used a pretty broad brush and swept
over the details.

In fact, there’s a lot we’ve left out. Take the
OEMs, for instance, the “original equipment man¬
ufacturers”. These are the folks who take Heath/
Zenith computer products and mix them together
with other hardware and software to do a particu¬
lar job for a particular market, medicine, say. The
lab that does chemical analyses may very well be
using a Heath/Zenith computer in a total package
with another label on it.

(margins, form feeds, pauses, ...)

LPH14 LPH24 LPH25 LPH34 LPH44

NEG/CTS NEG/CTS POS/CTS DC1/DC3 ETX/ACK

$ 20.00 each (U.S. Currency)

(others available on request)

Or take the products that Heath/Zenith hasn’t
released yet. What will they be? Will software
offerings predominate in 1982, or hardware? And
what about the competition? Or the people who
make up the entire Heath/Zenith marketplace? Or
their effect on the microcomputer industry as a
whole?

In this brief overview, we’ve only begun to
scratch the surface. In future issues, we hope to
report further on the entire Heath/Zenith market¬
place. We hope you’ll be along with us on that,
both as readers and as participants. If you have any
comments, or questions, or criticisms, or ideas
J about that marketplace, or about us, we want to
hear them. It’s the biography of a community we’re
writing here, as well as the profile of an industry.
It’s an important story and we hope we do it
justice.

12 Sextant Spring 1982

Since 1978, we have been dedicated
to delivering quality products with
fast service at reasonable prices! To |||||
receive a complete detailed listing
of all software and hardware, send ^
for our new free catalog. Our busi¬
ness hours are 10am to 6pm (Eastern
time) Monday thru Friday. COD shipping
is available for $2 extra, phone orders
welcome. Add $1.75 shipping, handling
and insurance charges on orders under
$100 in the continental U.S. Orders over
$100 add $5. Foreign orders add 15% for
shipping. Alaska, Hawaii, APO and FPO
add 3% shipping on orders over $100.
Michigan residents add 4% sales tax.

PHONE: ( 313)645 5365

Tandon TM-100-4 double-sided 80 track
5£ " drives can be used with your stand¬
ard hard sector controller or may be
used in a double density format. Also
available are TM-100-1 drives. They are
single sided 40 track and are direct re¬
placements for the H89 or H77/H17.

TM-100-4 $425 Quantity pricing

TM-100-1 $235 available.

From Micro Peripherals, Inc., the Z99-G
printer has both tractor feed and fric¬
tion feed standard! Single sheets are
front-loaded for ease of operation. A
Centronics type parallel and an RS-232
serial interface is also standard. Using a
7x9 matrix for normal text with lower
case descenders, an 11 x 9 matrix and
serif-style font can also be printed. It
prints the full 96 character ASCII set on
up to two copies. High resolution with
dot addressable graphics is standard for
plotting, printing screen graphics, spec¬
ialty fonts or illustrations. A CP/M mod¬
ification is available to allow printing
both the normal and reverse graphic set
of the Heath/Zenith computer!

• Microprocessor controlled

• Bi-directional printing

• 100 cps maximum print speed

• Correspondence printing

• Adjustable tractors

• Uses ribbon cartridges'

• 80, 96, or 136 column lines

• Assembled & tested

For more info and a sample print-out,
write to us!

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8" Tandon THINLINE drives are half the
thickness of older eight inch drives and
are double-sided and double density. No
AC current required!

K37 V

ENCLOSURE & Y
POWER SUPPLY Y

Now you have a choice! A Heath/Zenith
look-alike dual disk drive enclosure is
now available. Includes an integral fused
heavy-duty power supply. Steel cabinet
and chassis with plastic front bezel. Kit
form or assembled and tested.

K37 Enclosure Kit $210 (drives not
K37 Enclosure A&T $235 included)

DISKETTES w

Memorex 5" SS,SD 10 Sector
Scotch 5” Soft-sector DS,DD
Memorex 8" DS,DD
Hub Ring Kit with 25 rings

STANDARD ENCLOSURES
Assembled single or dual 5i " disk drive
enclosures with fused & regulated power
supplies. All steel construction with a
metallic gray color. Mounting hardware

is included.

These are state

of the art interface switching units. Any
RS-232 peripheral may be switched be¬
tween 3 other devices using the standard
8 data lines. r->Tc cq oq

||Jj| JBSl HI wm Made by

if® SBWlll Livingston

H . m i Logic Labs,

l m these controllers handle up to four
single or double-sided 8" standard drives
employing single density recording tech¬
niques. They use an IBM 3740 standard
format, and come with CP/M BIOS mods,
with an HDOS driver available separ¬
ately. Supplied assembled and tested.

Z90-80 Computer .

Z90-82 Computer .

Z-89-FA Computer .

WH88-16 16K Expansion Card ...

Z-89-37 Double Density Card.

Z-37 Dual Disk System .

Z-19 CRT Terminal ....

Z-25 High Speed Printer .

CP/M 2.2 on 5" Disk .

MBASIC for CP/M .

MBASIC for HDOS .

MBASIC CP/M Compiler .

MFORTRAN for CP/M .

MFORTRAN for HDOS ..

Peachtree AR,AP,PR,GL (ea) ....

Data Star .250 Wordstar ....

SuperCalc . 245 Magic Wand

CBASIC .99 Supersort ...

T ^iucm SOFTWARE

Money$worth (CP/M or HDOS)

Quik-Ref (HDOS) .

Bios-80 (CP/M) .

Caverns of Doomed (HDOS) ,

Compacta (HDOS) .-

T.N.T. Driver (HDOS) .

The Paralleler (HDOS) .

Key-It! (CP/M) .

Key-It! (HDOS) .—

Math Wiz (CP/M or HDOS) .,

Bxref (CP/M or HDOS) ..

CTRL-’P’atch (HDOS) .

H8 controller
H89 controller
HDOS Device Driver

Smartmodem

• Auto-Answer,

Tandon

k . ^

Anpi

99G

WORD PROCESSING (non-Zenith)

SpellBinder & Office Manag.289

SpellGuard . 2 * 5

Palantir Word Processor. CALL

Probe (CP/M or HDOS) . 30

Thing (escape code chart) . 3

Financial/Graph Plot (HDOS) .18

Quizmaster (HDOS) .16

• RS-232, programmable,
Smartmodem $235

Chronograph

$210

CIRCLE #106 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Sextant Spring 1982 13

William F. Buckley, Jr.
on Hugh Kenner

One should attempt to
imitate Kenners
perfectly-tempered
lucidity... even as a
young tenor might be
instructed to imitate
Caruso.

In a celebrated essay, Michael Oakeshott remarks the
closeness of the boundaries of teaching-by-text. As so
often is the case when a truism is discovered, instantly
after Oakeshott said it it seemed obvious that to describe
the motion of pounding down on a nail on a piece of wood
requires more didactic BTUs than taking the student to the
woodshed and showing him how it’s done. But the dis¬
tinction in between has been brilliantly discovered, and
I’d give Hugh Kenner the principal credit for this, at least
in the worlds in which I have travelled. The distinction I
speak of is: How should something be taught, when the
alternative of teaching it through personal contact is not
available? And Hugh Kenner comes especially to mind
because although he is a literary critic primarily, he never
writes like one. Somewhere along the line, lucidity gripped
him, and from its entrance he never succeeded in tearing
himself loose, not even after a generation spent reading
the work of some of his colleagues. Although he is as I say,
a critic by profession, his interest in mechanics is intense,
and he succeeds in bringing his powers of elucidation to
the explanation of anything at all, whether the engineering
concepts of Bucky Fuller, the mysteries of programming
celestial navigation computers, or—of course—the myster¬
ies of word processors.

I have not experienced these, but after reading this
article I feel that with it in hand, and a manual, screen, and
printer beside me, I’d have a better than even chance of
coming up on the other end after the long swim through
technicalities. Mr. Kenner does here in 17 pages what, I
warrant, the nice people who wrote the manuals haven’t
succeeded in doing in three times as much space.
Moreover he does this in an elegant idiom that brings
pleasure not only as one penetrates mystery, but as one
listens to the incantations that cause the arcana to stop
being mysterious, and come in under Hugh Kenner’s
spotlight. One should attempt to imitate Kenner’s per¬
fectly-tempered lucidity, and students of language and
pedagogy should imitate him. But that is as far as we are
likely to go, even as a young tenor might be instructed to
imitate Caruso. Replacing him is outside the power, and
therefore the ambition, of most of those who deal in En¬
glish.

14 Sextant Spring 1982

A Professional Writer Looks at

Budget Word Processing

— Hugh Kenner —

In 30 years of hammering some fairly tough
typewriters into Intensive Care—twenty books,
maybe 700 articles—I have routinely drafted each
page at the keyboard, reread it semi-pleased,
defaced it with scribblings, retyped it, reread,
rescribbled, again retyped ... in all, have generally
typed everything three times (and proofread each
retyping.)

Hour after hour, two-thirds of my keyboard
time given over to sheer transcription: recopying
the 250 right words that surrounded any 25 wrong

In 30 years of hammering some
fairly tough typewriters into
Intensive Care—twenty books,
maybe 700 articles—I have ...
generally typed everything three
times....

ones: that simple statistic was what turned me at
long last toward the computer. And for a Heathkit
veteran—it was 1955 I built my first Heathkit—
what else but the H89?

Which has proved an impeccable choice. A
sturdy full-sized keyboard with upper and lower
case; a 24-line by 80-character screen; 64K of
memory; the H77’s two outboard floppy drives; RS-
232-C compatibility with a Diablo 630 printer and,
via modem, with my university’s UNIX (this last only
marginally pertinent to the present discussion): all
in all, a professional-quality system. Within weeks
it had helped me produce a 2,500-word article
against a one-day deadline: many, many hours
saved because nothing got retyped. That was when
I knew I had turned a corner.

It was done, and the words you are reading are
being arranged, with an assist from the ineffable
Software Toolworks, whose pie and text for
Heath’s HDOS make a $65 word-processing pack¬

age I’m not interested in trying to beat. You can pay
$500 for Word Processor software with power
steering and incidental music, most of the features
aimed at keeping secretaries insulated from the
(shhh!) computer. Some of the best of these, like
Magic Wand, have features what I’m about to
describe can’t claim. But Magic Wand ($295)
requires CP/M (another $ 150). pie andTEXT run on
HDOS. And they do what one professional writer
wants.

All I want is to type it in simply and get it out
cleanly. No Problem, pie (“Programma Improved
Editor ”) puts it in, easily; text prints it out, hand¬
somely. The commands you need in addition to

A 500-page book is no storage
problem whatever; at printing
time TEXT will call file after file,
if necessary from drive
after drive.

bare typing are few and become second nature in
two days.

Using pie, you type in not only what you want to
say, but also the formatting commands for text.
This idea is not unfamiliar, tab and return on your
present typewriter are examples of such com¬
mands, since they do not put in words but help
format the page. The same is true of setting margin
stops or removing a sheet when you’ve typed to a
certain length, text simply reduces such gestures
to two-letter formulae placed at the left-hand
margin and preceded by a dot.

Thus the new paragraph I just started was
obtained by typing “.pp” at the left-hand margin.
text interprets any dot-two-letter sequence at that
margin as an instruction to be relayed to the

Sextant Spring 1982 15

CExrflwr

Finally, a magazine for you

Sextant is the magazine for anyone interested in Heath®/Zenith computers because it covers only
Heath®/Zenith computers. Now you don’t need to search through magazine after magazine to find tid¬
bits of information about your system. Sextant publishes the news you need.

Sexton? features in-depth technical articles, tutorials and human-interest stories. You can read about
new ways to use Heathkit® computers and Zenith Data Systems. You will see articles from business
people who need a computer to deal with their paperwork; from professionals who are developing new
products; and from hobbyists who just have fun with computers. Sextant can give you ideas about what
you can do with a Heath®/Zenith computer to make it even more valuable.

From each issue of Sextant you can expect independent editorial quality. Sextant is not affiliated with
the Heath Company or the Zenith Radio Corporation. All aspects of the system—good or bad—can be
published.

Sextant covers Heath®/Zenith computers, often overlooked by other magazines. At last, you too can
read articles about your system and learn more about its potential.

Keep Sextant coming to you. Just fill-in and return our subscription action card opposite this page or
send your payment of $9.97 ($ 11.50 in Canada, $ 14 overseas) for a four-issue (one year) subscription.
(Payment mustbeinU.S. dollars payable on a U.S. bank, by international postal money order, or
charged on VISA or MasterCard.) A full refund is guaranteed any time you’re not satisfied. Send your
order today to: Sextant, 716 E St., SE, Washington, DC 20003 or call 202/544-0900.

MAGNOLIA H

MICROSYSTEMS

CP/M™ DISK SUBSYSTEMS

FOR THE HEATH/ZENITH 89 COMPUTER

Corvus Winchester Disk Systems

Daisy-Chain 4 drives for up to 80 MBytes
Connect up to 8 '89s using a Constellation

5 MByte

$3750

10 MByte

$5350

20 MByte

$6450

Constellation Multiplexer

S900

Interface cards for additional ’89s

$350

5" Double Density Floppy Systems

Use up to 4 5" and 4 8" drives!

48tpi: Single Sided: 1 drive (162K) $945

Double Sided: 1 drive (343K) $1095

96 tpi: Double Sided: 1 drive (70QK) $1295

2 drives (1400K) $1995

8" Double Density Floppy Systems

Use up to 4 8" and 4 5" drives!

Single Sided: 1 drive (594K) $1595

2 drives (1188K] $1995

Double Sided: 1 drive Cl 21 OK) $2095

2 drives C2420K) $2695

Mixed Winchester and Floppy Systems

Mass Storage with Floppy Backup
5 MByte + 96 tpi DS 5" (700K) $4495

5 MByte + DS 8" (121 OK) $4995

10 MByte + DS 8" (121 OK) $6495

Each system includes everything needed:

• Disk I/O Card and/or Double Density Controller Package including CP/M 2.2

• Disk Drives in cabinet with Power Supply and all necessary cables

Ask for these systems at your local Heathkit or Computer Store, or order direct.

MAGNOLIA MICROSYSTEMS, INC.

2264 -15th Avenue West

Seattle, WA 98119

(206) 285-7266 (800) 426-2841

See our other advertisements for details
on the interface and double density
controller boards used in these systems.
CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research.

16 Sextant Spring 1982

CIRCLE #105 ON READER SERVICE CARD

_ Payment enclosed

_Bill me

_Charge my'- --

Card #

Signature-

Start my subscription with:

.MasterCard

Interbank #-
Expiration Date
1982

. Summer

gfgwxww

gennsSiaA«l?' ENT

"*•»». D C 2 4| E

printer: “.sp”, leave a line-space; “.ul”, underline
what is on the next line. Many of these can be
enhanced by an optional number. Thus “.sp 2”
means leave two line-spaces; and whereas “.ce”
says “center the next line”, which might be a title,
“.ce 2” says “center the next 2 lines”, which might
be a title and a byline. If counting grows tedious
you can get into the centering mode with an
arbitrary “.ce 999”, and out of it again with “.ce 0”.
Then you don’t need to count all the blank lines;
this is of practical use in laying out things like title
pages, life being short enough without trying to
keep a tally of gaps. Another useful command is “.Is
n”; thus “.Is 2” says “double-space everything until
otherwise instructed.” Put it at the head of your
opus and see everything thereafter double-spaced
the way typesetters like it. And numbers can
augment numbers; thus after I have used “.in 10” to
fix the left margin at 10 spaces (1 inch) from the
edge of the paper,“.in +4 ’’will indent some block of
quoted matter another 4 spaces, and keep doing so
line after line until “.in -4” restores the original
margin.

pie comes with 13 very clear pages of instruc¬
tions, text with a 12-page block of legalese you can
consult quite comfortably when you’ve learned to

The commands you need in
addition to bare typing are few
and become second nature in two
days.

read it, the one thing it doesn’t tell you how to do.
Take heart. By the time you have finished this
article the text instructions will be transparent.

I shall now outline the step-by-step setting up
of a rational Word Processing system from in¬
expensive software components in 20 minutes. I’ll
assume the minimum hardware, with at least 32K
of memory and a second disk drive, SY1:. (More
memory, longer documents without disk changing.
I got the full 64K available. I also have a third drive,
SY2:. It’s an amenity.)

The preliminaries

1. Obtain pie ($29.95) and text ($34.95) from
your local Heathkit or Zenith Data Systems retailer
or from The Software Toolworks, 14478 Glorietta
Dr., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423, who request an-

Hugh Kenner in his office at home.

other $2 per order for shipping. (Zenith has the
very same programs in Softstuff at scandalously
higher prices; beware. And though CP/M versions
of pie and text are available, this article assumes
HDOS 2.0. Finally, any good program on the
market is apt to be updated; I used pie i.5b and text
3.3, with which I’d expect future editions to be
compatible.)

2. Initialize a new diskette, label it word
processor, and install minimal boot facilities with
SYSGEN/M.

3. Onto this disk copy either pie.abs (for the
H89) or PIE8.ABS (for the H8): both are on the pie
distribution disk. Next copyTEXT.ABS from the text
distribution disk.

4. If you’ve just bought your Diablo printer, see
your HDOS manual, page 2-57, before going
further. If you’ve had it a while, its driver, lp.dvd,
will be in residence on a working diskette. Boot this
and key set LP: page o. This cancels any ideas lp.dvd
may have about page length, since such ideas could
conflict with text commands. Now copy lp.dvd
onto the “Word Processor” diskette.

5. You are ready to go. Your “Word Processor”
diskette has about 160 sectors available for record¬
ing draft material. Place it in SY0:, boot it, type pie
draft, and experiment.

Using PIE’s features

When you typed pie draft, the word draft was
a file name, so you saw the message, “File not
found: will create it.” Everything you type after
this will be stored under the heading “Draft,” and
the next time you call “pie draft” the beginning of
“Draft” is what will appear on the screen. Using
commands like pie DRAFT2, pie junk, pie sextant, you
can open as many files on one disk as the disk has
room for (and delete them at will when they are
safely printed). You can also extend your archive to
any number of disks. A 500-page book is no storage
problem whatever: at printing time text will call
file after file, if necessary from drive after drive.

You are now installed in a domain of great
freedom. Being tailored for the H89, pie has some-

Sextant Spring 1982 17

Photo by Sarah E. Juram.

thing denied to the Word Processor packages,
however expensive, that are hemmed in by
humdrum keyboards on lesser computers: a whole
row of “function” keys it can put to use, and on the
numeric keypad nine keys already marked with
insert/delete and cursor-motion symbols. One of
the things pie does is move that last group of
specialties out of the “shifted” mode. Touch DC on
the keypad and a character is instantly deleted;
touch IL, and a blank line appears above the
cursor; touch T , and the cursor moves upward
into it. (Nothing to memorize: just consult the
markings Heath has already provided.) “Insert
Character” (IC) brings a highly visible “Insert
Mode” prompt that stays on the screen till another
press of IC turns it off. As you insert, the rest of the
line moves rightward to make room; overflow
drops down to the next line. The five “function”
keys, fl,... f5, move your text up and down in the
window, screenful by screenful or line by line; f3
will take you back to the beginning, enter f3 down
to the end.

We have hardly begun on the wonders of pie.
Keys easier for you to learn than for me to
enumerate will jump the cursor all over the screen,
for instance to the end or start of the current line,
or top-screen or bottom, or back and forth along
the line by 8-space leaps, ctrl-d (“Divide”) will
make a new line out of everything after the cursor:
handy if mid-line is where you wish you’d started a
new paragraph, pie will also Search, Replace,

pvvvvvvvvvv i a

H89/Z89 ^

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‘ Centronics ” is a TM of Centronics Data Computer Corp.

“CP/M” is a TM of Digital Research

A .A: JV A A A

CIRCLE #108 ON READER SERVICE CARD

record “macros” ... but see its instructions. This is a
glancing view.

Saving, storing, retrieving your text

When you are happy with what you’ve typed
and revised, ctrl-e (for “Exit”) will place it on the
disk and exit to HDOS. Or ctrl-v (for “saVe ”) will
record what is typed so far and instead of exiting let
you resume work. It’s a good idea to “saVe” every
few hundred words. On continuous display at the
bottom of the screen are the current line number
and the number of bytes (characters) remaining in

Keys easier for you to learn than
for me to enumerate will jump
the cursor all over the screen....

RAM. The line number can be useful because
enter [In] f3 will take you straight to it. As for the
byte count, when it goes below 2,000 a beep and a
reverse-video bulletin tell you to save right now
because space is getting critical. Advice: don’t let
yourself drift anywhere near this limit. A file that
full is too tight for future editing. Best ctrl-e and
start a new file ( pie DRAFT2 for instance) when you
still have at least 5,000 bytes remaining.

I’d better tell you how I manage file storage.
The Word Processor disk in the main drive (SY0:)
has enough space for an article the length of this
one. For really long projects, like the book I’m
working on, the two auxiliary drives on the H77
come into routine play. Each of them gets a disk,
successively numbered. The odd number in SY1: is
treated as backup to its successor in SY2:. I com¬
mence with pie SY2:CHAPi, type a while, and when I
feel like it execute a dual save. Taking advantage of
a useful convention of pie, that anything is returned
without further fuss to the disk from which it was
called, I perform ctrl-v to save on SY2:, then enter
SY l: [filename] CTRL-E to place the backup on SY1:. I am
now back in HDOS and can start a new block with
pie SY2:CHAP2. And I have two identical records of all
that typing. (Don t scoff; even you can one day get
an unaccountable Bad Disk, Bad Sector, Read
Error. Yes, you want that backup.)

You’ll have noticed the use of enter just above,
and its convention is simple: any time something
that must precede a pie command, for instance a
disk drive name, entails keys that could type onto
the screen, you insulate them from the screen by

18 Sextant Spring 1982

enter. For if we had typed no more than
SYl:[filename] CTRL-E, then “SYl:’’ would have been
merely the last four characters to be added to the
file, and the save, lacking instructions to the
contrary, would have been on SYO:. enter was what
turned “SYl:” from four characters into part of an
instruction.

You can also rename your file. You’d do that to
save both the previous version and a newly edited
one, in case of second thoughts. Whereas ctrl-e by
itself would cause your latest reworking of chapi to
replace its predecessor, enter chapia ctrl-e will
leave old chapi alone and record new chapia
alongside it.

You print all this with TEXT [filename] LP: SO “TEXT
draft lp will print out all of draft. If you have a
number of files to concatenate, create with pie a
little file called print, which can simply read
,rf DRAFT1
.rf DRAFT2
etc.

Then “text print lp : ’’ will take care of every¬
thing. You’ve guessed that “.rf ’ means “read file,”
and “.rf commands can be inserted right into what
you’re typing now, to invoke an insert from else¬
where. When you come to just the place for those
four splendid paragraphs you stashed away last
week as “brainwve ,” then “ rf brainwve” will sum¬
mon them at printing time; or ‘.rf SYn BRAiNWVE,” if
they’re to be called from a different disk.

The above assumes a continuous stream of
fanfold paper. You prefer single sheets? Then after
text insert “-w” (for “wait”) and the printer will
stop at the bottom of each page while you replace
the paper and hit return.

Numbered pages? text looks after them. The
“header” instruction, “.he will number

every page commencing with 1. Between the
carets you can insert what you like; thus 'Sextant
Article ' # "'Hugh Kenner' “ puts a heading at the top left of
the page, my name at the top right, and a number in
the center. If you prefer the form “Page 1” just
specify “Page#”. If you don’t want the first page
numbered, as I generally don’t, place the header
information after something destined to be printed
on page 1, such as a title; numbering (and heading)
will then commence with “2” on the second page.

Fitting PIE to suit your needs

After playing with these programs for a day you
will see ways to standardize. On my Word Proces¬
sor disk I have a file called setup, which goes,

i ri 10

rin 7@

I PAGE FORMATTING

f? +4

Is 2

DOUBLE SPACE ARTICLE

rij

\ »

no NOT .JUSTIFY

sp 4

4 SPACES ATOP PAGE 1

r<fl> 2

CENTER TITLE AND BYLINE

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MISSILE CONTROL tests your speed, accuracy and
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You have been chosen to fly your Y-WING FIGHTER on a
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For the Z/H89 and H8/H19 on dual format HDOS-CP/M
hard sector 5" disks.

Available at most Heath/Zenith retailers or directly from

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CIRCLE #109 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Sextant Spring 1982 19

I then invoke this by commencing each article
with‘‘.rf setup’’; it sets the margins at 10 and 70 and
creates 6 spaces (about 1 inch) at the foot of the
page. Having requested double spacing, an extra 4
spaces atop page 1, and centering of title and
byline, it reverts to the main text. (The \ ", by the
way, heads a “comment” sequence which text
ignores; but don’t put it on a line by itself unless you
want a blank line.)

Only “.nj” still needs explaining. Unless other¬
wise instructed, text will align the right-hand
margin by inserting extra spaces between words. It
does this alternately from the left and from the
right, to avoid a thinning-out at just one side, but
you still may not want the effect, in which case “.nj”
says “don’t justify.”

I always use “.nj”; justifying is fun at first, but I
think not finally pleasing except with a propor¬
tional-spacing printer and driver; also with some
means of hyphenating long words, which the
pie/text package does not provide

You won’t want to hyphenate manually either,
when you first enter the copy, because a botch like
“some-thing” is sure to end up in mid line after
TEXT has reformatted your copy. What you
surely will do is use the word-wrap optionof pie,
which you get by tabbing over a handy distance
and then ctrl-w. At that point an invisible right
margin is stipulated, and the last word too long to fit

Congratulations

and

Best Wishes
to the staff of
Sextant

COMMDSOFT

665 Maybell Avenue
Palo Alto, California 94306
(415) 493-2184

CIRCLE #110 ON READER SERVICE CARD

within it spills intact to the next line; you need
never type “return.” ctrl-w is easy to patch (see pie
instructions) so the system wakes up with the
wrap-around line length of your choice. I’ve
patched mine at the 8th tab.

Heavy editing can leave right margins pretty
ragged, something text takes care of by its own

The erroneous version is what is
in memory, and the computer,
not you, may as well hunt it down
for correction.

word-wrapping. It shoots word after word to the
printer until the next word would make the line too
long; then it commands a line-feed. If you want to
preserve the integrity of the lines you’ve typed—
quoting poetry, for instance—just command “.nf ’
before your no-fill episode and “.fi” after it.
(Another way is to commence each line a space or
more from the left margin. That’s faster if your no¬
fill needs only a few lines, and poetry is normally
indented anyway.)

Other uses

I machine-type letters as well as articles, and
have a more complicated system for those, pie
letter will call up the following:

• ir. 15 \" !

• rm 75 \" ! Paqe Formatting

.f2 +10 \" 1

.rf Idraft \" print text of letter

■sp 2
.in +30

Yours sincerely,

• sp 4
. nf

Hugh Kenner

.he AA VOMIT page number on envelope
.bp \"EJECT PAGE

\w V’PAUSE for envelope insertion

.sp 3

■rf address \"ADDRESS ENVELOPE

This types the letter and locates the signature;
it also addresses the envelope, calling on the file
called address, which is:

20 Sextant Spring 1982

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CIRCLE #111 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Sextant Spring 1982 21

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RICK KERBEL, Pres. (913) 648-1333

WORD PROCESSING § DATA MANAGEMENT I

r r

WORDPRO | MAILMATE I

A text editor/formatter heavy on § Prints Labels, Letters or Lists. Merge f s.A.P.

features. When used with a | Label data into your letters. A host of | s' t'iiitL>Q irp/u ™iy/ th Q firot o\

“DIABLO”, expect proportional word g user definable options. Map driven ! Search And PrinrMSMA^PH Ar?

spacing, subscripts and exponents, | output lets you determine output | mRSORT 'hM0D2 SMAP ’ PHLAGS '

DUALPORT

Modifies HDOS to permit a “2nd”
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hdos $39.95
MAGIC MENU

Converts any system to turn-key
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or any other program from command
mode, and all programs automatically
return to menu. Even executes multi¬
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are user defined.

HDOS $29.95

etc. Takes
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hdos $59.95

HDOS or CP/M $39.95 | HDOS or CP/M
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any disk file (external)

Flags misspelled words on your I manager. Operates in turn-ke? I variable ORMutlfptFRFrnRn
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An excellent geography learning aid.

DUALFORMAT $24.95

MATH

p Languages.

f
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HDOS

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Aids the younger student in all four 0 A Data Entry/Base Language $
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22 Sextant Spring 1982

Keeps track of appointments,
meetings and schedules. Full screen
display for each day. Ideal for
Doctors, Lawyers, or anyone with a
busy schedule.

HDOS or CP/M $39.95
SY0.-BILLING

Complete balance forward billing
system designed for one drive.
Accomodates 40 Accounts. Trans¬
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CIRCLE #112 ON READER SERVICE CARD

• sp

.rif \" Type ADDRESS below

Mr. Charles Floto,

BUSS,

325 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E.,

Washington, DC 2®@03.

.sp \" Type SALUTATION below

Dear Mr. Floto:

.fi

•n..i

. he AA # AA \" NUMBER PAGES after p.l

.sp 2

And you will have noticed that LETTER
mentioned a file called LDRAFT, which is

. ce VType DATE below

21 February 1982
.sp 2

.rf address

,pp \"TEXT OF LETTER FOLLOWS:

This is complicated, but I want automatic
envelope addressing, and get it by by having the
address in a separate file, invoked twice. The
address file also contains the salutation, because if
you are sending the same letter to several people
those are two items you’ll be changing at the same
time. I keep “Dear Mr. Floto” off the envelope with
the “ w” command in address, which forces a wait
during which ctrl-C will terminate everything.
You print the whole thing with text letter lr,
hitting return when you hear a beep. More than
one page needs text -w letter lp : to permit inser¬
tion of new sheets.

Candidly: if your day is filled with letters then
avoid these roundabouts with a more expensive
word-processor. But with my 3-4 letters a day I’m
happy.

Proofing

When “lp:” is not specified text goes right to
the screen. For a proofreading preview just use
text letter, or text article. Your handiwork will
go on display with its double-spacing, its para¬
graphing, its filled-out lines and all; even its under¬
lines, represented by reverse video. Use ctrl-s and
ctrl-q to stop and start the scrolling, and when you
see blivets pencil notes of them, not as you want
them to be but as they are. The erroneous version is
what is in memory, and the computer, not you, may
as well hunt it down for correction.

It does this in search mode. Scanning this
article I spotted “perfrom”; or was it “perfomr”?
Never mind, “perf ’ was sufficient. Having reenter¬
ed pie draft, I keyed enter, then “perf”, then hit

the “0” on the numeric keypad, which pie uses as a
search key. This looks for strings that match the
entered string. “Perf”? Within two seconds the line
with “perfrom” was at the top of the screen, with
the cursor on the non-word’s first letter; the
correction took but a second more. (The search
function, alas, does not acknowledge terminal
blanks, so “cat” will halt not only on every kitty but
also on “catastrophe” and “complicated. ”)

Notes, asides, and cautions

A few things you should know:

—Since the cat command in HDOS shows you
how many sectors a file occupies,it’s handy to know
your average number of words per sector. Mine is
43, and on a file of reasonable length—say 10
sectors or more—multiplying the sector readout by
43 gives me a surprisingly accurate word count.

—After you’ve worked on a file, pie saves the
revised version before deleting the original, a
precaution against disk-write failure that necessi¬
tates enough space for the two of them. If enough
space isn’t there, pie asks if you’ll take the risk of
deleting #1 to make room for #2. The way to agree,
as the instructions do not tell you, is to type “y”. If
there’s still no room, then enter SYn: ctrl-r will
permit dismount/remount for a new disk in SYn:.
What you do after that (here the instructions are
vague) is ENTER SYn: [filename] CTRL-E, and the CTRL-E
places your work on the new disk.

—The trick for underlining more lines than
you care to count is like the trick for centering

The search function, alas, does
not acknowledge terminal blanks,
so “cat” will halt not only on
every kitty but also on
“catastrophe” and
“complicated.”

explained above, but (contrary to text instruc¬
tions) not exactly like it. You start with “.ul 999” or
some such number, and you terminate with “.ul 0”,
but after the latter one more line will get under¬
lined, so place the command accordingly.

—text has a backspace, “\b”, which is useful

Sextant Spring 1982 23

SOFTWARE FOR TH€ H8/H89/Z89

Quality Products from NEWLINE SOFTWARE

VIDEO SCRIBE TEXT EDITOR - *** NEW RELEASE . . VERSION 3.5 ***

Video Scribe is a screen oriented text editor designed especially for the H19/H89 terminal.
The top twenty-four lines of the screen are used as a window into your text file. “What you
see is what you get!” Each time you enter any keystroke, its effect is immediately displayed.
The twenty-fifth line is used as a “COMMAND MENU”. The keypad and function keys con¬
trol most commands. Video Scribe is designed to be easy to use, yet includes a full comple¬
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Text automatically wraps to the next line when the margin is reached. Built-in HELP facility
and complete documentation are included. This editor even has an OOPS key to undo your
mistakes! Control characters and escape sequences can also be inserted into your text for
control of your printer features.

Requires — 32K memory min/40K advised $39.95 (1,2)

VIDEO ARTIST PLUS — *** NEW RELEASE . . VERSION 4.0 ***

A unique graphics editor designed for creating graphic displays on the HI9 terminal and sav¬
ing the pictures to disk. Includes these features and commands: READ, WRITE, INVERSE,
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ON/OFF, GRAPHICS GENERATOR, 8 DIRECTION CURSOR CONTROL, TWO SCREEN PICTURE
BUFFER. INSERT LINE, DELETE LINE, DUPLICATE (in 4 directions), INSERT CHARACTER.
HELP DISPLAY. Completely “MENU" driven. Uses the function keys and keypad for com¬
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BHBASIC show how to add the pictures to your applications.

Requires — 32K memory $39.95 (1,2)

H25/Z25 GRAPHICS GENERATOR — *** NEW PROGRAM ***

This program contains all of the features of Video Artist Plus for the creation of pictures on
the H19 terminal and saving to disk. In addition, graphic displays can be sent from the
screen of the HI9 to the H25/Z25 printer! Screens can be combined to print 160 column
wide by any length pictures. In addition to Video Artist Plus commands, the command set in¬
cludes: 6/8 LINES PER INCH, 10/13.2 CHARACTERS PER INCH, TOP OF FORM, TWO
SCREEN PRINT BUFFERS. A program in BASIC is included for printing continuous pictures
from disk to the H25. Use this program to design your own INVOICES, STATEMENTS LET¬
TERHEADS, or just for fun GRAPHICS!

Requires — 32K memory $44.95 (1, 2)

TOUCH TYPIST - *** HDOS AND CP/M VERSIONS ***

Touch Typist was written for the Health/Zenith computer users who use the old hunt-and-
peck method of typing. And, for those who already know how to touch-type, Touch Typist
has practice lessons to help improve your speed and accuracy. Touch Typist consists of a
series of lessons which you can practice at your own pace. The program combines time
tested techniques of teaching typing with the instant feedback only possible with a personal
computer. See the Software Review in the January 1982 issue of Kilobaud/MICROCOM-
PUTING magazine for a complete review of this computer-aided instruction program.
Requires - 24K memory (HDOS VERSION) $29.95 (1,2)

(CP/M VERSION) $29.95 (2, 4)

TOUR-700 - *** NEW PROGRAM ***

Are you tired of the fast action games that seem impossible to win without at least 8 hands?
This is the game for you. Based on an old card game played in Europe, this game will enter¬
tain and amuse you without tiring you out. A good mix of skill and luck-of-the-cards, this
program will be enjoyed by youngsters and oldsters alike. The graphics features of the HI9
are used to present a game board display. The object of the game is to win a cross country
race against the computer. You must overcome flat tires, accidents, speed limits, and other
hazards as you make your way through each 700 mile leg of the race. The computer will plot
to place hazards in your way and try to beat you to the finish line. But with a little luck and
some plotting of your own, you can win. The HDOS version includes both BHBASIC and
MBASIC source code. The CP/M version is for MBASIC only.

Requires — 32K memory (HDOS VERSION) $19.95 (1,2)

(CP/M VERSION) $19.95 (2, 3)

Requirement Notes:

(1) HDOS 1.6 or higher

(2) H19/H89 terminal

(3) CP/M 2.x and MBASIC 5.1

(4) CP/M 2.x

CP/M is a registered trade mark of Digital Research, Inc.

MBASIC is a trade mark of Microsoft
HDOS and BHBASIC are trade marks of Heath Company

$$$ ATTENTION PROGRAM AUTHORS $$$

NEWLINE SOFTWARE is searching for original, high quality programs for the H8 and H89
computers. We are interested in GAMES, GRAPHICS, BUSINESS SOFTWARE, UTILITIES,
LANGUAGES, COLOR GRAPHICS or any other software for the businessman or hobby com-
puterist. Programs must be written for ease of use and be fully documented (source code not
required). You can earn high royalties for your programs without interfering with your hob¬
by. We will evaluate your programs in strictest confidence. Materials will be returned only if
return postage is provided.

NEWLINE SOFTWARE
P.O. BOX 402

LITTLETON, MASS. 01460

CIRCLE #113 ON READER SERVICE CARD

for getting an accent above a letter; thus
“ere\ b'me” will get you “creme”. Alas, this collides
with the underlining mechanism, and I have found
no way to get what one wants surprisingly often, an
underlined word wearing accents.

—(Word from the Toolworks is thatTEXT4.o will
correct the two problems above and add many new
features including hyphenation capability. Expect
it this spring at a slightly higher price than the
current version.)

—After any line on the screen, text inserts a
space. So a line isolated for underlining will carry a
space before any sequent punctuation, “ thus ”
instead of “ thus ” with an amateurish look. The
backspace (see above) will take care of this, but
beware of situations where the underlined word
ends flush with the right margin; text will then
backspace after the linefeed, and the mark of
punctuation will end up out in the left-hand
margin. If you spot this in proofreading, force the
word onto a new line by means of an extra space
somewhere ahead of it.

This last bug, I expect, will be taken care of in a
future issue of the software. No need to wait. After
four months with the H89, Diablo 630, pie, text, I
luxuriate in the bliss of retyping nothing and envy
no man, not even Jimmy Carter, whose Brand
X,didn 11 read recently,crashed one morning and
lost him—what was it?—18 minutes’ worth of
memoirs?

Software for Heath/Zenith"

Unit

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18,000 Possible Conversions
English, Metric & Archaic Units
SI, CGS & MKS Systems
Scientific & Engineering Units

Requires 64K, H8/H19*or H/Z89*and CP/M*2.2

All orders Ppd USA (foreign add $2). CA residents add 6% tax.

$1995

mako data products

1441-B N. RED GUM, ANAHEIM, CA 92806 (714) 632-8583

Trademark of Heath/Zenith, CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research

CIRCLE #107 ON READER SERVICE CARD

24 Sextant Spring 1982

How to Turn Zenith
Screen Graphics into Color Slides

-F. X. “Skip” Millor—

You can holster your soldering iron
and let it cool; the following technique
involves the marriage of photography
and the screen of your existing H89 or
H19.

While in the process of deciding to
get my H89,1 asked the friendly man at
my local Heath store about color graphics
with the H89. The response was a strange
look and a diplomatic explanation of the
complexities of modification needed to
accomplish what I was inquiring about.
What was really on my mind was to fill a
need for creating color graphics and
titles for use in making 35 mm slides that
could be used as speaker support. It
seemed that there had to be a way to
make quick and slick color slides for last
minute financial meetings, production
and sales reviews, and, of course, train¬
ing sessions dealing with complex
concepts.

Well, there is, and after you have the
desired graphics on your computer’s
display, it just requires some basic
photography and some relatively in¬
expensive supplies to produce your
color slides.

To begin, you need a reliable, easy to
use graphics program such as Gail
Halverson’s full screen graphics editor,
Ed-A-Sketch, from The Software Tool¬
works. Next, obtain a copy of a template
such as Eastman Kodak’s Television
Graphics Production Template H-42.
While you are creating your artwork, the
template provides a consistent center-
screen reference on your computer’s
cathode ray tube (CRT).

The first step is to use some masking
tape to hold the template to the top of
the terminal (not the CRT screen). You
may want to trim the sides of the tem¬
plate. Avoid trimming the top or bottom
of the template. To locate the center of
your CRT, load Ed-A-Sketch, or other
graphics program, then move the cursor
to line 12 and create a horizontal line
across the screen. Next, count 40
columns from the left and create a
vertical line that goes from the top of the
screen to the bottom. You now have a
target that shows the center of the
screen. With this graphic on the screen,
position the Kodak Graphics Template
so that its center crossed line matches
with the target on the CRT. Save this
“picture’’ in its own file under a title

such as target.pic. This will eliminate
your having to create the cross bar
pattern each time you start designing
graphics for slide production. I also find
it best to keep each graphic in its own
separate file. Now you can begin creat¬
ing your graphics using the target on the
template as a centering reference.

Designing the graphics—keep
it simple

Here are some hints. The first thing to
keep in mind is that if the people in the
back of the room cannot read or under¬
stand the visual you created, there is no
sense in going through the process.
Keep graphics and word slides simple.
Remember, you are creating a visual to
simplify and explain. Jamming the
screen full of data and graphics is going
to be visually confusing, very difficult to
photograph, and probably illegible to
your audience. Professional commun¬
icators use slides to show trends and
comparisons. The mass of data used to
arrive at their conclusions is left on the
desk, not put on the screen. If you have a
lot of information, break it into bite
(sorry about that pun) sized pieces that
can be disclosed with a series of slides.

It is best to sketch each slide on paper
first to be sure you have truly sum¬
marized the relevant information.
Design your graphics to use only the
center portion of your screen. Avoid
areas one inch from the top, bottom, and
sides of the screen because the images
in these areas may not be as sharp as
images in the center of the screen. In
addition, straight lines may turn out as
curved lines after they are photograph¬
ed if you allow the lines to extend to the
edge of the screen. Stay within the T.V.
Safe Area that is designated on the
template.

After creating all your graphics, get a
printout of the file listings. This will
make it easier to keep track of what has
to be photographed. Besides giving a list
of the titles of your files, you may wish to
use the printout later as a scratch pad to
keep notes regarding exposure settings
for each graphic.

Setting up—step by step

Leave the template in place while
you set up your single-lens reflex 35 mm
camera on a tripod. (The relatively long

exposure times necessary will not give a
sharp image if you try to hand-hold the
camera. The hand is not as steady as the
tripod.) Select a long focal length lens
such as a 70 mm or 80 mm lens. These
will reduce the apparent distortion from
the curved CRT. A 50 mm lens will work
if only the center portion of the screen is
photographed. Don’t even bother with
your 35 mm or 28 mm wide angle lenses.
They will give much unwanted distor¬
tion. Position the back of the camera so it
is perpendicular to the screen and the
lens is aimed squarely at the center of
the screen. Remember, the screen is not
square with the table. It is tilted back.
You’re trying to get the film plane of the
camera parallel with the screen. This is
important as it will reduce the distortion
that is a result of the screen curvature.
(There are hoods and other camera
holders available for this. You might
want to investigate them, but they tend
to be expensive.)

With camera and lens centered, flip
the template up (avoid covering the
terminal exhaust vents.) Check to see if
the screen is clean of fingerprints.
Fingerprints that are hard to see with
the eye are easy to see on the projected
slide.

I found that both Kodak Ektachrome
200 and 400 daylight films work very
well. Black and white films do not have a
dark enough maximum density, or black
background, when projected on a
screen. The exception is Kodak Kodalith
film. However, Kodalith film is not sensi¬
tive enough for this application. Also, for
the most part,black and white films
require you to use reverse video to get a
final positive image and that leads to
some unique exposure calculations I
found to be more complicated than
practical. Ektachrome film, after proc¬
essing, produces a positive likeness of
what you have on your CRT.

If you do wish to experiment with
black and white films, the filter men¬
tioned in the next paragraph is not
needed. Using filters with black and
white films will unnecessarily extend
your exposure times.

Also,if you have a black and white
CRT, you won’t have to worry about
filters. Those of you with a green CRT,
though, will need to stop at your local
photography store and get a Kodak

Sextant Spring 1982 25

Wratten Compensating Filter CC50M,
75 mm square, catalog number 149
6694. This gelatin filter will cost under
$9. There are glass filters available, but
they cost quite a bit more.

Placed over your camera lens with a
small piece of tape, this filter will
remove most of the green from the CRT
and provide a black background with
almost white letters. In order for the
addition of color to be successful, you
must have near-white letters on a black
background.

By the way, while you’re in the

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photography store, pick up a box of glass
35 mm slide mounts. You will need them
later. Get a good quality mount.

Exposure settings—trial and error

Next we want to determine exposure.
Unfortunately, both hand-held and in¬
camera exposure meters will not work
very well in determining the proper
exposure to be used in photographing
images from the CRT screen. This is
because most meters generally average
all the light coming from a typical scene.
The information on the CRT is not a
typical scene and most light meters
won’t know this. However, as an approx¬
imate starting point, increase the
brightness control on your CRT until
you just begin to lose letter sharpness.

Turn the lights out in the room you are
using to photograph the CRT. Light
other than from the CRT will give a gray
background and turn the white letters to
an unwanted color depending on the
color of the light source. Try to fill the
camera viewfinder as much as possible.
This will make your graphics and word
slides more legible when projected on a
screen. It will also make it easier to add
color. I suggest using a cable release to
depress the camera shutter release. This
will help eliminate blurring on the
finished slide that results from slight
camera movement.

Using Kodak Ektachrome 400 film in
the camera, set your shutter speed at Vs

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Use for business, games, teaching aids. Display
Bar Graphs, Pie Charts, Maps, Game Playing
Fields, etc. The TMS 9918A chip contains 32
planes of user-defined “Sprites’ ’—patterns that
you can move around the screen, to pass in front
of or behind each other. Four modes of operation:
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Program music, sounds, noises with the Sound
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NOTE: Requires an RF Modulator to connect to a color TV. Sources and recommendations for mod¬
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Kit.$310.00 Assembled and Tested.$385.00

Price includes postage and handling. New Mexico residents add 4% tax.

SANDIA COMPUTER PRODUCTS COMPANY

7105 Merle N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87109

Also supplying FILECAT—the disk cataloging utility that creates a file catalog of both HDOS and
CP/M disks, with numerical and alphabetical listings of disks and files. Write for information and sam¬

ple printouts.

CIRCLE #114 ON READER SERVICE CARD

second and adjust your lens aperture or
f-stop tof/3.5. (A shutter speed faster
than 1/15 of a second such as 1/60
of a second exposure time will give you a
nice but unwanted shutter bar from the
CRT on the finished slide.) Make three
exposures, one f/3.5, one f/5.6, and one
f/2.8. For this first test, you may also
want to try f/8 and f/1.2. Keep good
notes on the first roll of film. It will save
much wasted time, film, and processing

Keep graphics and
word slides simple.
Remember , you are
creating a visual to
simplify and explain.

expense in future projects. You may
wish to type your exposure and f stop
information on the screen for each
graphic or word slide before making
each exposure. This need only be done
for the first roll. An alternative would be
to use the file listing printout as a scratch
pad to hold notes on the sequence of f
stops used in photographing each
graphic.

By the way, playing with the bright¬
ness and camera focus will create some
interesting neon effects. In addition,
intentional camera movement after
initial exposure will also create some
basic animation and interesting title and
word slides. I don’t suggest you try this
for straight graphics such as charts and
graphs. Master the basics first and tinker
later.

After I’m done, I always have Kodak
process my slide film because their
quality is very good and consistent. In
choosing your processor, quality and
consistency are critical to the finished
product. I also specify that the film is to
be unmounted because that makes it
easier to evaluate my exposure and
camera technique after the film comes
back. If you require same-day Ekta¬
chrome processing, look in the Yellow
Pages of your phone book under Photo
Finishing-Retail. Custom photo finish¬
ing labs sometimes offer this service for
an additional fee. Don’t forget to inquire
about the lab’s processing schedule, i.e.
what is the latest you can drop off your
film and the earliest you can pick it up.

Adding the color—carefully

Now comes the addition of color. You
have two choices. One is colored gels.
The other is food colors. I’ve used both.
You’ll probably want to experiment, too.

26 Sextant Spring 1982

CIRCLE #115 ON READER SERVICE CARD •

Letterhead? Multicopy cut forms? Plain bond
paper? Ditto masters? Try the Easy Feed
single sheet paper load option with
feBp MPI's 88G and 99G printers. Just
pr I feed the paper in the front and watch
J it come out the top. No round plat-
V ens to bend around or complicated
Wr paper paths to worry about. All this in

^ y addition to the standard adjustable width
yr tractor drive, dot graphics, 1,000 character
JT buffer, dual parallel/serial interface, dual fonts
* and much more. Another good reason to select
an MPI printer.

Ampi

Micro Peripherals, Inc.

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Telephone (801) 263-3081

The Printer People

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You can obtain some theatrical gela¬
tin filters from a theater supply or a
motion picture equipment supply store.

You will find that
once you have
mastered the basics
you will be limited
only by your own
creativity.

Since the main use of gels is as the sheets
that slip over a spotlight to provide the
desired color of light, their availability
may depend on the level of professional
entertainment in your area, but you can
also write directly to the manufacturer.
Rosco Laboratories’ Roscotran trans¬
parency film packets, for instance, give a
good selection of colored gels.

Adding color to your slides with gels
is easy. Carefully cut the slide from the
processed roll, sandwich with the
selected colored gel, and place both in
the same glass slide mount. The glass
mount will keep both gel and film flat.

HEATH/ZENITH

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CIRCLE #117 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Experiment with different colors. Be
sure to use a slide projector to evaluate
your colored graphic. Holding the slide
up to a light is not representative of what
the projected image will look like on a
screen.

The second choice is to stop by your
local supermarket and get some food
colors. Get the ones that come in the 1.5
ounce kit. You will get individual bottles
of red, green, blue, and yellow food
colors. If you go with this option, you will
also need a fine tip, high quality camel or
sable hair brush from an art supply store.
Don’t try to substitute an inexpensive
brush because it will likely result in
damaging your photographic efforts.
Select a slide that you can experiment
with because the addition of color with
dyes takes practice.

Look closely at the film. Although
both sides of the film appear shiny, one
is a bit duller than the other. This dull
side is the emulsion side and that is
where you will want to apply the color
dyes.

Moisten the brush with water and
then blot it dry. Now dip the tip of the

Comments:

We should note that we have checked
prices for the Washington, D.C., area
only. They may be different elsewhere.

The major expense in a project such
as this, of course, will be the 35 mm
camera, if you don’t already have one.
New% they can be quite expensive, used
they can sometimes be had for as little
as $50.

In Washington, 35 mm glass slide
mounts run for about $5.95 for a pack of
20. Kodak 200 and 400 daylight film
goes for around $5.95 for a 36-exposure
roll, $4.15 for 20-exposures. Suppliers of
gels can probably be found in the Yellow

brush in the full strength dye of the color
you wish to add to the film. Be sure to
blot the brush. This will avoid having a
pool of dye run where you don’t want it.
Here’s where a good quality brush pays
off. A poor brush can hold dye and dump
it where you least want it. A cheap brush
can also scatch the emulsion.

With a few minutes’ practice, you will
be able to add color to the fine lines on
your graphs, charts, and word slides.
Using a good fine tip camel hair brush
will allow you to color the smallest
elements of your graphic.

Be sure to let the dye dry thoroughly
before you place the film in the glass
mount. Project the slide to evaluate the
hue and saturation of the colors. If
you’re using a Kodak slide projector, the
Kodak Ektagraphic FF lenses seem to
give the best results with glass mounted
slides made from computer-generated
graphics.

So you’ve got your slides. Make notes
of your setup and don’t be afraid to
experiment. You will find that once you
have mastered the basics, you will be
limited only by your own creativity.

Pages under Theatrical Equipment and
Supplies; look for lighting systems com¬
panies. The cost of a decent camel or
sable hair artist’s brush will probably be
at least $2.50 for a small brush, with the
price varying according to size as well as
quality. And as for food colors , well, the
editors decided to leave that to your own
investigation since it involves so per¬
sonal a matter as choice of supermarket.

NOTE: Ed-A-Sketch, Kodak, Eastman,
Ektachrome, Kodalith, Wratten, Rosco¬
tran, and Ektagraphics FF are all trade¬
marks.

Materials Information

Materials available through mail order:

Computer Ed-A-Sketch; author, Gail Halverson $29.95

Graphics Software Toolworks $ 2.00 shipping

14478 Glorietta Drive
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

Graphics Television Graphics Production Template H-42 $ 2.20

Template Eastman Kodak, Dept. 412L

343 State Street
Rochester, NY 14650

Materials more

normally purchased at retail:

Camera

Kodak Wratten Compensating Filter CC50M $ 4.83

Filter

(75 mm square)

Colored

Roscotran transparency film $ 4.25

Gels

(20" x 24")

Rosco Laboratories

214 Harrison Avenue

Harrison, NY 10528

28 Sextant Spring 1982

Dr. Dobb s Journal

For Users of Small Computer Systems V

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8086/8088
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Sextant Spring 1982 29

Benton Harbor BASIC
Tests Typing Reaction Time

— Raymond Dotson —

Here’s a program, TYPING.BAS, that is in¬
tended to be both a game and a skills test. You can
use it to improve your reaction time and typing
skills. And you can also use it for amusement as
you challenge yourself to surpass previously attained
scores. It may also be played by two or more
persons so that individual improvement percent¬
ages are used as the determinant of victory.

How it’s done

A random letter of the alphabet is printed on
the screen and the typist is given a limited time to
hit the same letter key on the keyboard. A correct
response in the alloted time will cause the availa¬
ble time to be shortened by a small amount.
Likewise, an improper response will cause the
time to be extended by a like amount. Therefore,
the program automatically adjusts to your speed
and skill, constantly giving you a gentle push to

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improve.

A single SPACE instead of a letter key will, at
any time, display your response time and end the
program.

Since it is written in Heath’s Benton Harbor
BASIC, this program is readily adaptable to other
BASICs. The only unusual feature is that of line
360 which uses the PIN command to obtain a
single keystroke, somewhat like the INKEY$ of
the Other Guy’s BASIC.

What’s in the program

Let’s go through the program line by line and
explain the purpose of each:

100 through 180 The commercial.

190 Defines C$ as the ‘Clear Screen’ command
and prints it; then defines B=100 which permits a
maximum of 100 attempts. Cl$ is then made
equal to C$ plus CHAR$(12) not only to clear the
screen, but also space 12 vertical lines down.

320 Requests a delay time be entered as N2$ then
makes N1 equal the value of N2$. Since ‘PAUSE’
delays by 2*n milliseconds, N is made equal to
N1*500 so that the input time in seconds can be
used in the PAUSE statement in line 360.

330 Starts the sequence of 100 trials and prints 8
blank lines at the top of the screen.

340 Determines a random number from 65 thru
90 and then converts that number to a letter of the
alphabet, A thru Z, (A$).

350 Prints the random letter in the center of the
ninth line.

360 PAUSEs N/500 seconds to await a keystroke.
The PIN command detects any input at port 232
(keyboard) and assigns that key entry as J$.

370 Determines if J$ is the same as A$. If so, the
delay (N) is decreased by 1/50 second, the BELL is
sounded, and you are rewarded with a bit of
positive feedback for one second. The program is
directed to line 400.

380 Determines if you have had enough and have
hit the SPACE bar. If so, the screen is cleared and
the program is directed to line 410.

390 You are informed that you have not hit the
correct key in the alloted time. Since you failed,
the delay time is increased by 1/50 second to allow

30 Sextant Spring 1982

CIRCLE #118 ON READER SERVICE CARD

you additional time in the future.

400 The screen is cleared and we are sent back to
line 330 for one more try.

410 Prints your response time in seconds.

420 Prints 2 blank lines.

430 Gives you your starting time for comparison.

440 If your time is less than the starting time, you
are again given positive strokes and the program is
directed to line 460.

450 If line 440 requirements were not met, you
are told that you have not improved during this

session.

460 Ten blank lines are printed.

470 The buffer is cleared of extraneous garbage
and the screen is cleared.

480 Gives you the opportunity to continue with the
same delays as you were using prior to hitting the
SPACE bar.

490 Evaluates your answer and if 'YES’, resets the
starting time to equal your latest average and
restarts the sequence.

500 Clears the screen and ENDs.

00100

00110

00120

00130

00140

00150

00160

00170

00180

00190

00200

00210

00220

00230

00240

00250

00260

00270

00280

00290

00300

00310

00320

00330

00340

00350

00360

00370

00380

00390

00400

00410

00420

00430

00440

00450

00460

00470

00480

00490

00500

REM

TYPING SKILL FUN AND GAMES
by Raymond Dotson
214 S. Berkeley Blvd.
Goldsboro, NC 27530

C$=CHR$(27)+"E":C1$=C$+CHR$(12):B=100:PRINT Cl$

PRINT TAB(22)"TYPING IMPROVEMENT EXERCISES":PRINT

PRINT " Challenge an opponent or your own reaction time with the

PRINT "Computer as time-keeper and score-keeper.":PRINT

PRINT "This program will measure the time required for you to strike a key
PRINT "corresponding to a character that will be flashed in the center of^
PRINT "the screen. When you respond with the correct key in a prescribed
PRINT "time, the computer speeds up its rate. When you hit an incorrect
PRINT "key or no key at all, the computer will slow down its rate. The
PRINT "starting time will depend upon your request, however, a starting ^
PRINT "time of approximately 1 second is suggested until you become more
PRINT "familiar with the program. (INPUT 1 or .8 or 1.4, etc.)"

PRINT -.LINE INPUT "Starting time? " ;N2$ :N1=VAL (N2$) :N=N1*400 :PRINT C$

FOR 1=1 TO B:FOR U=1 TO 8:PRINT :NEXT U
A=INT(26*RND(1)+65):A$=CHR$(A)

PRINT TAB (40)A$:PRINT :PRINT
PAUSE [N]:J$=CHR$(PIN(232))

IF J$=A$ THEN N=N-10:PRINT CHR$(7);TAB(34)"CORRECT!»:PAUSE 500:GOTO 400

IF J$=" " THEN PRINT Cl$:GOTO 410

PRINT TAB(36)"SORRY.:PAUSE 500:N=N+10

PRINT C$:NEXT I

PRINT TAB (20)"YOUR RESPONSE TIME WAS" ;N/500;"SECONDS."

PRINT :PRINT

PRINT TAB(20)"SINCE YOUR STARTING TIME WAS";N1;"SECONDS,

IF N/500<Nl THEN PRINT TAB(20)"YOU ARE IMPROVING!":GOTO 460
PRINT TAB(20)"YOU HAVE NOT IMPROVED DURING THIS SESSION."

FOR 1=1 TO 10 SPRINT sNEXT I

LINE INPUT "Hit RETURN to clear Buffer. ";B$SPRINT Cl$

LINE INPUT "Continue with the same speed parameters? ";A$:A$=LEFT$(A$,1)
PRINT C$:IF A$="Y" OR A$="y" THEN Nl=N/500sGOTO 330
PRINT CHR$(12):END

The TYPING.BAS program

Sextant Spring 1982 31

Print Spoolers

A Background and Reviews of
Six Software Products to Break
Your Printer Bottleneck

—Kenneth A. Patrick—

History

Everyone who owns a microcomputer is at first
amazed with the blazing speed with which it
performs its tasks. Then, as time goes on and we
become more familiar with the system, we begin to
wish for more speed. The biggest bottleneck in
microcomputer throughput (besides the human
interface) is usually the print device. Printers
usually poke along at anywhere from 10 to 150
characters per second. Unfortunately, the proces¬
sor is obliged to wait for the slowest device in the
system, and thus the processing proceeds at the
same 10 to 150 characters per second.

This problem has been around for ages. In the

Printers usually poke along at
anywhere from 10 to 150
characters per second.
Unfortunately, the processor is
obliged to wait for the slowest
device in the system , and thus the
processing proceeds at the same
10 to 150 characters per second.

early 60s, the IBM 1401 days, the throughput of a
printer was improved by allowing the device to be
buffered. That is, the printer was given its own
memory sufficient to hold one print line. The
computer could blast a single line to the buffer at
high speed, then go about its tasks. The printer
then dumped the buffer at its own leisurely (1,000
lines per minute) pace. A handshake was provided

32 Sextant Spring 1982

to test for printer-busy” so the processor did not
waste time waiting for the printer. If the print
device was busy, the program could go through
another processing loop before writing another
line.

Two problems are evident with this technique.
First, each program using the printer must have
logic that allows and provides for printer buffer
management routines interleaved with the real
program logic. The key word is “allows”, since
many applications are so uncomplicated that the
process loop is too simple (using too little time
between print lines) to gain any real throughput
improvement. Second, if you change the print
device to a new one with a new handshake
protocol (or just a different speed), every program
must be modified to provide for the new hand¬
shake protocols.

A more significant problem surfaced as the
computing power climbed. With the advent of the
IBM 70xx series of computers, the requirement to
have more than one printer at a time became
critical. Either the data processing shop had to buy
additional printers, or the data destined for print¬
ing had to be stored on other media until it could be
“dumped” to a printer. Again, the IBM scenario
usually involved an upgrade from a 1401, and so
the 70xx programs “printed” their files onto
magnetic tape, later to be dumped to a printer on
the old 1401 system (which saved the 1401 from
obsolescence for years beyond its time). This
allowed the 70xx system to run at magnetic tape
speed for print jobs, a hundred-fold throughput
improvement. In addition, it provided for con¬
current generation of more than one report from
the same file with printing taking place later.

As business computers got faster, the magnetic
tape storage medium became the serious bottle-

neck. For mass-storage, magnetic tape is an
important medium, even today. But it is not cost
effective for printing files unless they are very
large, indeed. With a disk’s radically better input/
output (I/O) characteristics, disk storage is orders
of magnitude more efficient. But in the IBM-style
print spooling game, this requires either that the
spool-to-printer program be on the mainframe
processor, or that the spooling system share the
disk device with the host system. As it happens,
both solutions are used today, sometimes together.

True print spooling should provide user pro¬
grams with an environment that makes it look like
the users have an unlimited number of printers at
their disposal. Users should not have to be con¬
cerned with handshaking. (Actually, the original
printers had the ability to report back to the user
program when the current line reached a partic¬
ular page position, allowing for end-of-page testing.
Programming techniques today usually require
that the user program keep track of the current line
pointer (by line-counting), and issue page ejects as
required.)

The print spooler task was made possible with
the advent of interrupt-driven processors, which
allow multi-tasking on one computing system. The
spooler is usually set up as a “background” task that
gets a shot at Central Processor Unit (CPU) time on
a scheduled basis. During that time, the spooler
performs as much spooling work as it can until its
time is up, at which time the system schedular
program takes back control.

The work the spooler performs should include:

1. Honoring new requests for service from user
programs (open, close, write spool file).

2. Management of disk space for spool storage
tasks.

3. Interfacing with all print devices assigned to it.

4. Interfacing with the system operator for printer
control.

The real beauty of a true spooler is that it is
transparent to the user programs. The program
races along at CPU/disk speeds, and may finish
long before the spooler ever schedules the output
to a printer. The operator has the ability: 1) to
cancel any print file; 2) to hold any file for later
rinting (allows files, such as like special forms, to
e queued—placed in a line—for later serial pro¬
cessing, such as printing); 3) to route spooled files
to any of the system print devices; and 4) to
schedule restarts and multiple copies of spooled
data.

The major disadvantage of a print spooler is
that it takes disk space away from applications and
converts it to overhead space. Today s disk storage
devices have become more cost effective, so this
has become less important. As spoolers evolved in
the IBM world from ASP (Automatic Spooling
Program) to HASP (Houston Automatic Spooling
Program) to JES (Job Entry Subsystem), they took
on more tasks. They not only spooled output for
printers, but input from card readers, output to
card punches, and eventually system-to-system
data transfer. Spoolers became schedular pro¬
grams for keeping a smooth workload flowing.
Finally, JES3 is not merely a spooler, but rather a
complete system management facility that keeps
track of the system resources required by each job
versus the available system resources, and handles
the work flow based on that information.

Six Spoolers for Heath/Zenith Computers

Pretty heady stuff, but how does it all
fit into the personal computer environ¬
ment? Actually, you have exactly the
same problems at home with your sys¬
tem as IBM has on a multi-million dollar
system: throughput The CPU can
operate only as fast as the slowest limit¬
ing device. Even a non-peripheral
program is limited by memory-access
speed and the CPU clock. But the
obvious bottleneck is at the printer. As
an experiment, run an assembly of a 30-
page program with no listing, then with
a printed listing. You’ll see a marked
(downright ridiculous) degradation in
the assembly time. A good print spooling
program should allow the assembly to
run at close to the former high speed,
and print the file at printer speed. Other
computing tasks should be possible as
the spooler continues its printing. The
spooler should be able to accept addi¬
tional files even while printing an earlier
one. Finally, the operator should be able

to terminate printing; to restart printing
from the front of a spooled file; to purge
a spooled file that is no longer wanted
for printing; and to interrogate the cur¬
rent status of the spooler’s work queue.

It was inevitable that the spooling
task would be implemented on the
Heath microcomputer system. First, the
technique was old, and fairly stable in
theory. The Heath system uses either an
8080 or Z80 processor, both of which
allow interrupt-driven multi-tasking.
And most printers run at very slow
throughput rates, triggering the soft¬
ware Handy-Dans into action. The
actual implementations of the spooling
task, however, are quite far apart in
design and capability.

There are several spooler programs
available for the H89. Most are offered
for sale, but at least one is available on
CompuServe’s personal computing net¬
work, MicroNET. This review is of five
of the most widely known spoolers for

Heath’s HDOS 2.0, and one for Heath’s
CP/M 2.2. Each has its own good and
bad points. Limited as we are to 64 K of
memory in the H89, it is likely impossi¬
ble to provide all the design features
described above in any one implement¬
ation. Choosing a spooler program
requires evaluation of the trade-offs in
your particular computing environment

A note on my tests

In testing the spoolers in this review, I
particularly relied on two programs that
serve to show up possible spooler prob¬
lems. One program that does not take
kindly to a time-sharing environment is
Dave Murry’s Missile Control game. I
also used the pie editor program from
Software Toolworks, pie requires specif¬
ic timing considerations to determine
whether a function key was pressed or
the human operator was entering actual
escape sequences. I also usedsYSCMD/plus
from D-G Electronic Developments

Sextant Spring 1982 33

Company. Its chan tracking option
employs time-sharing to see channel
usage. And my drive set-up is a three-
disk system with one Siemens (40 track)
and two Tandon (80 track) drives.

SPOOL-N-GO (Version 3.0) by
Barnard Software Services

spool-n-go (SNG) is a fine software
product for the H89. It is described as
allowing you to “...run programs on your
computer at the same time your printer
is listing a file”. And that it does, and
does well. SNG is distributed on a single
5W' disk with 14 pages of documenta¬
tion. Installation involves more than just
copying SNG from the distribution disk
with a simple pip command, but the
printed documentation takes you
through the ten minutes’ work smoothly.
You will probably need the manual
beside your keyboard for the first few
days of use, but thereafter you’ll have
the commands mastered.

SNG is primarily a device driver
(sp.dvd) and operator interface program
(spool abs). Two versions of the device
driver are provided: one is for H 14-type
printers using hardware handshaking
techniques; the second is for Diablo and
similar printers using the etx/ack proto¬
col. The driver controls both the spool¬
ing task and the print device. During
installation, you are directed to copy the
appropriate driver to your system disk,
renaming it sp.dvd. Each driver has
several set commands that allow you to
tailor it to your hardware (see Table 1).

The spooler.abs program interfaces
between the operator and SNG. It pro¬
vides the commands listed in Table 2.

As can be seen, SNG is not a simple
package. It has alot of options and
flexibility, but with that plus is the minus
of the time required to learn them all.
However, once you’ve set it up to run on
your system, many commands are not
required unless your hardware changes.

Spooler initialization can be made auto¬
matic through the use of the Heath Disk
Operating System (HDOS) prologue
facility (as can be done with all the
HDOS spoolers in this review).

Considerations for SNG include the
fact that you must allocate disk space for
the spool area. For reasonable perform¬
ance, the the spool area should be
about 50-100 disk sectors. This may
make it almost impossible to use SNG on
a single disk system using standard 400-
sector, 5W' floppy disks.

The version I have, moreover, sup¬
ports only the 5 W single side, single
density (SSSD) disks, not the newer
Tandon-style systems nor 8" disks. I can
only use my 40-track Siemens drive for
spooling. The drive cannot be dis¬
mounted as long as SNG is active, and in
my mixed mode environment, Logical
SY0: must be Physical SY0: which must
be the SSSD drive. Careful file place¬
ment and system configuration can
reduce the impact of this requirement.

Software Toolworks has recently re¬
leased SNG Version 3.2, however, and
according to reports, it’s “compatible
with all disk devices and drivers running
under HDOS 2.0”.

I’ve used SNG since June 1981.1 find
it more transparent than some older
packages I’ve used, but it does take up
disk space. Until I got the Tandon drives,
my space was at too high a premium to
allow high spool space. Consequently,
performance on large print files was
degraded until spool space had been
opened up by printing enough of the file
being spooled. SNG does make the
system wait if no more spool area is
available, but the spool area is released
sector-by-sector as the spooled data is
printed. You can spool as many files as
you wish, one at a time, as long as there is
spool space. There is no provision,
though, for purging a single file from a
group previously spooled.

One really nice feature is that you can
rename SP: as lp : , thereby allowing any
HDOS program to use it as if it were a
normal line printer. Printing of a spool¬
ed file begins as soon as the first spool
sector is written, allowing some overlap
of printing and processing. You can have
the printer go off-line (or out of paper)
without serious problems. SNG just
waits until the device is again available,
while foreground work continues.
Typing bye causes HDOS to shut down,
but SNG will continue to print its spool¬
ed data until it’s gone, or the drive is
physically made “not ready”. I liked this
feature, since it prevented me from
unintentionally terminating a spooled
listing.

One problem with multi-tasking pro¬
grams is that they sometimes take too
much of a time slice while working. SNG
is almost transparent, but it does make
the pie editor fail to recognize some
function keys. It does not, though,

HELP

Provides brief list of all SET options

LINES nnn

Printed lines per page before auto-eject

PORT nnn

Port to be assigned for printer

BAUD nnn

BAUD rate for printer

AUTO-CR

Insert <cr> after each <lf> and <ff>

NOAUTO-CR No <cr> insertion

CTS

Hardware Clear-to-send handshaking

DTR

Hardware Data-Terminal-Ready handshaking

AUTO-ON

Causes SPOOLER enable on boot-up

AUTO-OFF

Turns off SPOOLER enable on boot-up

H14

Send H14 set-up chars at OPEN time

NOH14

Suppress H14 set-up chars at OPEN time

VAL

Allow only valid HI4 chars & controls

NOVAL

Suppress validation of control sequence

LPIn

H14 only: Set Lines-Per-Inch to 6 or 8

WN nnn

HI4 only: Set NARROW Chars-Per-Inch

WW nnn

H14 only: Set WIDE Chars-Per-Inch

BURST nnn

Diablo only: Printer char buffer size

Table 1: SET SP: commands

HELP

Brief list of SPOOLER commands

Activates the SNG. Data spooled to SP: before SNG is

active will be lost. (Nice null-device).

OFF

Terminates SNG. Any unprinted spooled data is lost.

STOP

Stop printer temporarily, no lost data. Resumes at next

line to be printed.

START

Resume printing where last left off.

STATUS

Displays how many sectors of spool space are available for

spooling, ON/OFF state of SNG.

ALLOCATE dv:-nnn Allocate the disk space required for spool storage, dv: is the

device, nnn is the number of sectors to be reserved. SNG

manages this disk space entirely.

DELETE

Deletes previously allocated spool space.

FP OFF/ON

H8 only: Toggle front panel (FP) clock for performance

improvement. Off cuts system overhead.

RENAME d\

Allows renaming of SP.DVD to your name. Typical is to

make it LP.DVD which makes SNG transparent to the user.

Also allows for multiple copies of SNG on one disk (only

one in use at a time) for different printers.

Table 2: SPOOLER.ABS commands

34 Sextant Spring 1982

seriously impact on Dave Murry’s
Missile Control.

DESPOOLER by Tom Jorgenson

On a much simpler level, despooler
performs nearly all the same tasks as
SNG. The despooler distribution disk
contains several device driver files, one
of which you choose to copy and rename
to sp.dvd on your system disk. Drivers for
the Heath-standard printers are on the
disk, along with a .DOC file, an abort.abs
file, and a Microsoft BASIC demonstra¬
tion program using SP:. If you have a
printer not supported by the Heath-
supported device drivers, Tom offers a
“Universal” sp.dvd that does the spool
management tasks but sends the actual
print-destined data to the LP: device¬
driver. This mode uses more CPU time,
and results in slower throughput, but it
does allow you to use your tailored
device driver for your special printer
(Epson owners take heed).

The documentation is 9+ pages,
covering most aspects of installation.
There are no command summaries, as
despooler has no special commands.
The standard set LP: commands in the
HDOS documentation work on all of the
included drivers.

The basic technique used by
despooler is quite different from that
used by SNG. It does not allocate a
dedicated file space for spool manage¬
ment. Rather, if you wish to print some¬
thing, you must store it on a disk file.
When the file is closed, you issue a pip
command of this form:

copy sp:=[dv:]file.ext [,[dv:]file.ext]

despooler establishes a table entry to
queue the spooling. The spooling func¬
tion itself uses the queue to get work.
The actual spooling is performed from
the disk file specified to the print device.
This requires that the source file must
be mounted until it is printed by de¬
spooler.

The mount requirement is different
from that of the SNG spool file require¬
ment. The source file (rather than a
spool volume) must be mounted, and
the space on disk is required only for the
duration of the spool function. Once the
file is printed, it may be deleted or
dismounted. This technique cuts your
disk system impact to a minimum.
despooler does not provide for auto¬
matic deletion of a printed file, but you
could set one disk aside for spool files,
and do cleanup on it as required.

Operationally, despooler works quite
well. I gave it the acid test of pie and
missile control, and it did fine. There
are few occasions where the foreground
seems to be interrupted significantly.
missile control is able to demonstrate
this by moving the cross-hairs contin¬
uously. If it stops, the spooling program
has taken over the CPU for too long a
time. For despooler, the take-over is
much more noticeable if you use the

universal sp. driver than if you use Tom’s
H14 driver. The interruption is not
overbearing, but it is a little irritating.
pie, however, had no timing problems
from the keyboard.

There were several other things I
noticed with despooler. When its queue
is full (six files) it merely reports “device
NOT CAPABLE OF OPERATION” when you
attempt the seventh spool. When you
use the universal driver with your own
lp.dvd, switching the printer off-line will
stop the system. There is no provision
for displaying queue status. One neat
thing: bye did not shut the system down
unless despooler was inactive. It merely
returned with the HDOS prompt.

despooler is not invisible to the user.
You must write the file to disk and then
write the command to schedule it for
spooling by opening SP: for output and
writing a record that is a despooler
command. So you can’t just print a file
from within pie by SAVEing to LP: orsp : .
The only device supported is the stand¬
ard 5%" SSSD disk, as well.

On the other hand, despooler goes in
quickly. It took five minutes to get the
first file printing. Most application pro¬
grams showed no impact from it. Tom
indicates that despooler does not mod¬
ify HDOS in any way, and should be
compatible with future versions of
HDOS, or at least should be upward
compatible, given a fresh assembly from
Tom. Additional disk space is not re¬
quired to get a file printed unless it is a
print-file from a program.

SPOOLER by Bill Morgan

In November 1980, Bill Morgan
announced his HDOS spooler in Buss
#28.1 sent off for it immediately, as I had
just purchased my H89 and was anxious
for a spooling package. It arrived quickly,
went in with no problems (once I figured
out I had to set LP: baud and port) , and has
performed almost flawlessly since.

spooler is similar in design to de¬
spooler. It establishes a queue of up to
16 files to be printed/spooled, and
services that queue as a time-sharing
task. The spooler distribution disk in¬
cludes sp.abs for spool queue mainten¬
ance, ex.dvd as the primary spooling
driver, and several device drivers to
replace the Heath print device driver
files.

You will have the same restrictions
with spooler as with others that don’t
maintain a spool area: the files to be
spooled must remain on-line until the
spooling operation is complete, spooler
recognizes that you may have forgotten
whether a certain file has been queued
for printing, so a queue inquiry is pro¬
vided. You can also delete a single file
from the spool queue without affecting
others. Finally, you can specify multiple
copies as a part of the spool command.

spooler has less impact on the system
than some other spoolers, but you will

know it’s there, missile control will not
allow spooler to run at all, but the print
function resumes normally after the
game is over, pie seems to be affected in
the same way most other foreground
tasks are. spooler locks up the system
during the printer access with my Epson
printer. The Heath H14 I used to have
did not exhibit that problem; with it,
spooler was quite inobtrusive. I assume
a proper handshake will resolve this
with the Epson. Again, the package is
not transparent to the user, but requires
a specific command to get a file printed.
You cannot initiate a spooling task from
your program unless you can stuff a
command into the type-ahead buffer.

Normally, spooler takes about 3% of
the CPU time, but an additional com¬
mand allows it to take the system
completely if you’re in a hurry. I noticed
on my H14 that spooler does not keep
the printer busy, but runs it in one-line
spurts. This kept the print-head temper¬
ature light out, but slowed down the
throughput of the device. The Epson
runs even less with its slightly higher
speed. A while back Bill offered a pro¬
gram modification by phone to decrease
the “quiet” time between time slice
stealing, and tweaking these two bytes
improves performance.

Saying bye while spooler is working
shuts the system down, regardless of the
queue status. This is a flaw, as bye is

ATT: H-14 USERS!

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position. .. . “ROYAL BLUE” in
color! Really different. $4.95 ea. or
3 for $12.00. Please add $1.25 for
postage & handling. (NY residents,
add sales tax.)

H-19/H-89/H-8 USERS

We also carry a complete line of
programming aids for your computer.
*Flowcharting Sheets
*Video Layout Sheets
*Printer Layout Sheets
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*Printer Plotter Overlay
*COBOL Programming Sheets
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Send for a SPEC sheet. . .

The PC&J Graphics Co Inc

PO Box 108
Deer Park, NY 11729
516-667-8076

CIRCLE #120 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Sextant Spring 1982 35

sometimes sent by user programs not
knowing the system status.

You cannot use Heath’s standard
device drivers for the printer. The
device drivers supplied were for the
standard Heath printers, and included
some nice features. First, since they are
standard format, you can use them in
normal mode as long as spooler is in¬
active. They do not page-eject at end-of-
file as do all the Heath drivers. This is
because spooler actually closes and
opens both the printer and the disk file
on a once-per-sector basis, leaving the
channels available when spooler is not
in control. (This was confirmed by using
the D-G Electronic Developments
Company SYSCMD/plus with its chan track¬
ing option.) In addition, device initial¬
ization is performed only once at initial
open time, spooler ensures that files
bound for the printer will always start at
top-of-page, but your BASIC programs
will have to handle forms-eject on their
own. Finally, the lphm.dvd Bill provides
transcends the fixed left margin of the
HI4 printer with a new set option, left,
to set the left margin on the page, nice
for binder-destined copy.

spooler has another advantage in
that through device drivers it will
operate with any HDOS disk device.
Some spooling packages work only with
Heath standard SSSD 5 l A” disks. This
package is one that will work using the
new Tandon-style disk drives.

Other features spooler has include
the ability to have multiple print devices
(not run concurrently, but first in/first
out) ,BUFFERing of the printer data, spool¬
ing to non-printer devices (like md :
modem drivers, VO: Votrax voice simula¬
tor drivers), and a faster command that
makes spooler the foreground task to
speed up those hurry-up jobs.

SF.DVD by Dale Lamm

Dale Lamm offers some fine quality
software for the asking. He is extremely
active on CompuServe’s MicroNET in
the Heath Special Interest Group. His
sp.dvd device driver (sp : ) is inthe public
domain and is available through the
downloading facilities on MicroNET. I
downloaded a copy of SP: in August 1981,
and was pleased to find it of good
quality. SP: follows the technique of
despooler and SPOOLER in that the
device driver accepts commands as a
file written to it, and then performs the
requested work as a time-sharing task.

A short note of clarification is in order
before discussion on SP: can continue.
Dale wrote SP: some time ago as an
exercise in writing device drivers.
Hence, he has not attempted to opti¬
mize the code, or provide other per¬
formance or operating enhancements.
He is quick to point out that he offers it
(free) only because some Heath hobby¬
ists cannot justify the cost of other
spooling packages. It will be evident

when you see the code that Dale does a
very nice job indeed, even if it’s for non¬
professional purposes.

SP: can handle only one scheduled
task at a time, and differs from the other
spoolers in this review in that it includes
no other software. YourLP: device driver
can be used, or any other device driver,
for that matter. Dale has some other
sophisticated drivers including a md :
driver for modem handling. SP: shares
with spooler the ability to spool to any
serial device. You can schedule a
modem upload to a host, and go on with
your work while it does the job. SP:
reports on line 25 its current status, and
also sounds the LP: bell (if one exists) at
end-of-file.

SP: seems to handle all HDOS disk
devices as input drives. I used the
Tandon disk drives as source with no
glitches. A disk error that I forced
caused SP: to do retries through the SY:
driver and report the problem with the
standard Heath error messages.

Performance-wise, SP: left something
to be desired on my system. My Epson
MX80 is wired as an H14, using the
Heath-standard LP: driver. The other
spoolers in this review seem to allow
varying degrees of time-sharing, but
within acceptable limits. SP: takes the
majority of time from the system in my
configuration. My Epson did not then
have a 2K buffer, but a spooler should
allow for that sort of thing. I suspect the
problem lies in the device driver I am
using, pie performance is unacceptable,
as is missile CONTROL. In addition, the pie
keyboard timing problem is evident
while SP: is running. Other programs
(like Microsoft BASIC) show less of the
degradation. In all fairness, it’s likely
that a device driver written for the
Epson would probably improve per¬
formance considerably.

Another drawback is that SP: can
handle only one file at a time, and
provides no copies option. You have no
indication of how much of a file is
printed or remains.

Before you think I’m too down on SP:,
let me point out that Dale Lamm
supplies SP: in ASM format. You don’t
like the way it works? You can change it
to your heart’s content. This is the only
package reviewed that is offered in
source format. I suspect I can tweak the
code to take fewer or shorter time slots
and remove the performance problems.

MULTI-PRINT from
T ir E associates

T & E associates sent me an evalua¬
tion copy of their spooling package,
multi-print, shortly after I sent sextant
this article. More than a month went by
before I had enough information to
make a fair evaluation. Even though it
was nearly deadline time, sextant s
editors agreed that to leave it out would
be unfair, and might ignore an important

new entry in the field. Here are the
results.

multi-print was developed by Crea¬
tive Resources in Houston, Texas, under
the direction of T & E associates and
with technical assistance provided by
Software Helpline. It was announced to
me by Tom Cauthen of T & E on the
phone, and he seemed to be quite proud
of it. The package he sent me did not,
however, include a device driver that
could handle my Epson printer. Tom
spent some time researching, and called
me back with a patch to make one of his
drivers do the job. I had a lot of trouble
with it, though, and nearly gave up
before I discovered I had a bad 2K
buffer board. Once that was fixed, I
began the evaluation afresh.

multi-print comes with a complete
set of Heath-compatible printer device
drivers. T & E explains that to interact
properly with a device driver, the con¬
versation must be two-way, hence their
own versions of the drivers. Optionally,
you can purchase their ecoset printer
drivers. These drivers report their cur¬
rently set options. The standard drivers,
which I received, had versions for both
HDOS 1.6 and HDOS 2.0.

Installation involves copying the
sp.dvd driver (multi-print) and one or
more of the printer drivers to your
system disk. I should point out that
multi-print claims to drive up to four
different printers simultaneously (and

The most remarkable
thing about MULTI¬
PRINT is that it seems
to keep the printer
running at rated
speed with little
apparent degradation
in processing time.

independently). Once sp.dvd is install¬
ed, you set options to identify which
printer is assigned to each of the four
logical spooling devices, which disk
drive is available for a temporary spool
volume, and how many sectors are avail¬
able on that volume for spooling. If you
specify more than are available, multi¬
print merely uses what is available. An
interesting point is that this disk space is
allocated only on an as-needed basis,
and the space is freed as soon as the
spooled file is printed.

Two modes of spooling are available,
a hybrid of techniques. If you use the pip

36 Sextant Spring 1982

command to route a file to the printer,
spool space is not used, since multi-print
reads the file directly as it is printed.
This requires the file to remain available
until the printing is complete. The other
mode is used when you write to device
SPn: from a program. In this case, the
output is spooled (similar to SNG) to
disk, and printed.

Using pie as an indicator of the time
slicing, I was shown the unfortunate
problems that arise because pie times
console input as a technique for recog¬
nizing when a function key is pressed.
multi-print takes slices regularly, caus¬
ing very smooth printer operation. This
also interrupts the user program, pie in
this case, and breaks timing loops, if they
exist. The resulting interleaving of CPU
usage makes pie virtually unusable while
multi-print is printing, a problem that
clears up when the last file is printed.

missile control runs a bit slower, but
is quite smooth while printing is going
on. The most remarkable thing about
multi-print is that it seems to keep the
printer running at rated speed with little
apparent degradation in processing
time. T & E suggests that the printer be
run at a communication speed at or one
step higher than is required to keep it
busy, 2400 bits per second (b.p.s.) for my
Epson, 1200 b.p.s. for the H14. This cuts
down the number of characters multi¬
print attempts to print per time-slice,
and makes everything smooth out. I ran

at both 9600 b.p.s. and at 2400 b.p.s., and
performance was considerably smooth¬
er at the lower rate.

multi-print has some drawbacks. I
tried several techniques, and never did
get Microsoft BASIC to write a file to
SPn- T & E attempted to point the finger
at Microsoft’s memory management
routines. In addition, I was unable to
save a file to SPn: from pie, a common
technique with standard lp.dvd drivers.
Again, T & E thought pie was the culprit.
I was not convinced, but I was not really
interested in the details. The point is,
those techniques don’t work, but T & E
gave hope that a future release might
make them work. Last, you cannot use
printer device drivers other than those
supplied by T & E, making all those nice
custom drivers obsolete if you want to
spool.

On the plus side, multi-print ran
circles around the other spoolers while
an assembly was running, keeping the
printer busy at rated speed as far as I
could tell. If you have more than one
kind of printer, multi-print handles up
to four at a time. Commands are provid¬
ed to control each with a few quick key
strokes, even while you are running
another program. Taking a printer off¬
line made no impact on processing,
though the time-slicing was obviously
continuing as multi-print checked the
printer status, waiting for a chance to
continue.

Finally, I suspect that the associated
ecoset drivers might make multi-print
more flexible if you wish to invest the
extra cost.

DESPOOL for CP/M by Digital
Research

It seemed unfair to leave CP/M out of
this review. Many Heath owners are
dual operating systems people, and
would naturally look for a spooling
package for CP/M while shopping for
the HDOS version. The Heath catalog
offers eIespool as the answer, despool
comes in the standard Heath carton
with disk in sealed envelope, profession¬
al-looking documentation, and a sheaf of
license agreements, despool itself is a
single .COM file that you can copy onto
your disk with a simple pip command and
execute.

DESPOOL actually loads the console command
processor (CCP) and itself into high memory and waits
for a CTRL-F, whereupon it requests the
name of a file to be spooled. Once given
the name, it remains dormant until there
is time for it to begin the spooling work.
Where does it get its time slice in the
CP/M operating system (which is not
interrupt-driven)? The slowest device
in any home computing system is likely
the human operator, despool cashes in
on console wait time. Whenever the
CPU is waiting for input from you,
despool is doing its thing. Degradation
of the keyboard response is evident, but

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Sextant Spring 1982 37

not overbearing.

At first I was impressed. After all, I
had just installed despool in 60 seconds,
and here it was printing out a file. I
decided to do a COBOL compile and
check despool’s performance. After my
explanation in the preceding paragraph,
you might guess that despool would
remain dormant throughout the com¬
pile, but I just wasn’t thinking too
clearly, despool was dormant, dismally
so. There are no console waits during
the compilation process, so despool
never got control. Although I liked its
performance while the system was idle,
a good spooler should steal time as
needed to continue printing during
most normal processing.

Digital Research and Heath contend
that much of the work on the system is
keyboard oriented: pie or ED, file man¬
agement, MBASIC game-playing, and
the like. I suppose that’s possible, and
despool performs well with these types
of programs. I just expected more from
the CP/M experts, especially at the
premium price demanded. The docu¬
mentation provided is as we have come
to expect from Heath: excellent. The
program itself was a small disappoint¬
ment to me.

Vendor notes

Now some vendor notes. Walt
Bilofsky’s Software Toolworks is market¬
ing SPOOL-N-GO. In general I am pleased
with the performance of the Toolworks.
One drawback is that there is no
organized form of upgrade notification.
You have to hear of the newly-updated
package via your Heath store, Buss, or
one of the networks, or by inquiring
directly through the Toolworks. I’d
rather see a release notice from the
Toolworks to me.

Jeff Barnard is the author of spool-n-
go and I talked to him concerning the
next upgrade. His new version supports
all HDOS disk devices, and more print
devices. That release (3.2) should be out
by the time you read this. The Toolworks
has an upgrade plan that allows you to
get a current release for $10 if you are a
registered owner.

despooler is offered by Software
Wizardry. Tom Jorgenson, author and
distributor, indicates a new release is in
the works. The new release will support
more disk devices, and have a full
complement of print device support. A
release date was not offered, but I got
the impression it was imminent. In any
case, all of Software Wizardry’s cust¬
omers will receive notice of the up¬
grade, which will be at nominal copy
costs. (After my discussions with most
vendors concerning their products, by
the way, I came away personally
convinced that Software Wizardry
would prove to be the most responsive
to user requirements in the most timely
manner.)

38 Sextant Spring 1982

Bill Morgan sold me the spooler by
mail. It was my first mail-order software
purchase, and I’ve been quite pleased. I
had to call Bill in California when I first
got spooler, since I was a neophyte
hacker and knew not about set lp:. I
tried recently to get hold of him concern¬
ing support for the Epson printer, but
his number in California had ben changed
with no referral. In case you’ve run into
the same problem, his new number is
listed in “Supplier Notes” and the best
time to reach him is between 9:00 p.m.
and midnight, Pacific Time.

As stated earlier, Dale Lamm offers SP:
free for the taking. You must download it
from CompuServe MicroNET, either in
source or .HEX format. In my discussion
with him, he said that interest in spool¬
ing packages is growing again, and he
may try to ‘clean up some code’ in SP:. He
again cautioned me that it was not
developed as a commercial venture, and
he offers no guarantees. I suggest that if
you have questions you leave a note to
Dale through the Heath Users’ Group
Bulletin Board on MicroNET.

Regarding multi-print, I should
mention that I got a lot of support from
Tom Cauthen. We spent several hours
discussing the finer points of HDOS
interface conventions, the spooling
environment, and his product in partic¬
ular. He seems quite proud (and right¬
fully so) of multi-print, and plans further
enhancements. I’m sure that full support
for Epson printers will be forthcoming.
If Mr. Cauthen will support all of his
users as he did me, multi-print -will
succeed in the marketplace.

Digital Research was not contacted in
regards to any pending changes possible
for despool.

Conclusion

Don’t take the plus-and-minus points
at face value on any of these packages.
Each has its own faults and strong
points. A comparison chart is provided
to help you evaluate each in light of your
own system configuration. There are
other spooling packages, as well. It’s not
possible to test every one. I know of at
least one other package offered last year
that was well over $150, and very
sophisticated. There are others in the
works now for near-future release.

It’s the prerogative of any reviewer to
offer a ‘winner’ badge after the deed is
done. I cannot, as each package has its
own strong point(s) and failing(s). Nor
should you accept my word alone on
these. Remember that your printer
interface may work differently from
mine (an admitted kludge job, but it
works). I have a preference for spool-n-
go in a native three-disk HDOS en¬
vironment, as it is the most transparent
of the spoolers. The version I have had
does not support my new Tandon disk
drives, though, so that’s been my trade¬
off. You’ll have to choose yours. None of
the spoolers reviewed gets a rotten
apple award. That’s not unusual for this
kind of program, though, since a spooler
either works or doesn’t, and perform¬
ance evaluation is really the only
measuring stick.

I do recommend that if you have a
printer, you should get some version of a

spooler. If you’re like me, your available
time is at night, and short at that. Any
software that improves your product¬
ivity ought to be worth its weight in
Munchkins.

Supplier Notes

SPOOL-N-GO, $29.95. Copyright 1981
by Barnard Software Services, distributed
by Software Toolworks, Walt Bilofsky,
Prop., 14478 Glorietta Drive, Sherman
Oaks, CA 91423; 213/986-4885.

SPOOLER, $39.95. No copyright date,
proprietary license fee required. Bill
Morgan, 6133 Blossom Avenue, San
Jose, CA 95123; 408/629-0129, 9:00
p.m. to midnight, Pacific Time.

DESPOOLER, $34.95. Copyright 1981
by Tom Jorgenson, distributed by Soft¬
ware Wizardry, 122 Yankee Drive, St.
Charles, MO 63301; 314/946-1968,
after 4:30 p.m., Central Time.

SP.DVD, no charge. Public domain by
Dale Lamm, CompuServe 70555,302.
Retrieve through MicroNET’s HUG
Bulletin Board, or through the ACCESS
facility.

MULTI-PRINT, $40. Copyright 1981
by Creative Resources. Distributed by
T & E associates, Inc., P.O. Box 362,
Millersville, MD 21108.

DESPOOL for CP/M, $50. Copyright
1980 by Digital Research, distributed
by Heathkit Electronic Centers nation¬
wide and by catalog.

Print Spooler Performance Chart

The following chart is a comparison of the various spooling programs based on a “benchmark.” The benchmark involves assembling an
averaged-sized .ASM file (a printer device driver) while spooling another file to the printer. A good spooler will allow a good overlap of assembly
and print spooling, the spooler continuing to print while the assembly progresses. In each case the file to be printed was spooled with the printer
off-line, then the assembly was triggered (by DO) simultaneously with starting the printer.

The assembly alone (with no print file specified) took 0:45.

The assembly with the list file to disk (no spooler running) took 0:58.

The assembly to Heath’s LP: device took 10:23.

The printing of the test file (150 records) with PRINT and Heath’s

Jeff Barnard’s

LP.DVD took 3:21.

Tom Jorgenson’s

Bill Morgan’s

Dale Lamm’s

T & E’s

SPOOL-N-GO

DESPOOLER

SPOOLER

SP.DVD

MULTI-PRINT

Time to print 150 line test file with no other
loads on system

3:34

UNIVSP LPH14

3:40 3:38

“SLOW” “FAST”

10:48 4:00

4:31

3:23

Time to assemble with test file printing, lines
finished when Assembly done (“>” prompt)
Print to SPOOL/lines done

Print to File/lines done

1:07/43 lines
1:10/37 lines

1:05/6 1:00/4

: 58/no lines

1:00/no lines

:63/46

:59/46

Notes:

*Since SPOOL-N-GO is a writeable device driver, timings were made for both writing the disk file as in the case of the other spoolers, as well as
writing the assembly list file to the spool behind the test file already spooled.

*Both SPOOLER and SP: completely abandoned printing while the assembly task was underway. Both resumed printing as soon as the >
prompt appeared.

*With MULTI-PRINT, the printer in both assemblies had 20 lines extra stored in the printer buffer in both assemblies, which would have been
printed with a faster printer, such as an Okidata at 120 characters per second.

*DESPOOL for CP/M was not benchmarked. ___

Sextant Spring 1982 39

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to clear. Texas residents add 5%. Foreign orders add 30%.
Prices subject to change without notice.

CIRCLE #129 ON READER SERVICE CARD

play according to

Steer Kleer

Jioijle & Jioule

This is an easy to understand and easy to play
manual dexterity game for players of all ages. You
can easily show a four year old how to work the con¬
trols and what the object of the game is. Then at
slow speeds on the easiest maze, many four year
olds will be able to get entirely through the game,
and more importantly, they will be playing with their
parent’s computer.

The second maze is a real challenge to any adult
even at slow speeds. At the higher speeds, you
might play for weeks and never win. But once you
play a few times, the hope of winning will loom
above you and there will be no quitting.

Eight to twelve year olds can begin to help pro¬
gram by writing their own mazes on graph paper
and having their parents type in the maze for them.
Then they can have the thrill of playing their very
own maze. Of course, the adults can participate in
this activity also.

Finally, if you are wanting to learn assembly lan¬
guage programming, this program can be your
start. As a matter of fact, you must assemble two of
the mazes provided, before you can play them. De¬
tailed instructions on how to do this are on the game
disk. The source code for STEER KLEER is pro¬
vided. It is very well documented, and intended for
beginners. Study the code and you’ll be surprised
how easy it is to understand the program. You can
start programming by changing some of the code to
suit your own needs.

Four Obstacle Courses $14.00
Needs H8, HI 7 & HI 9 or H89 and
any version of HDOSand 16K

A Remarkable
Experience

Needs Heath H8 or H89 and any
version HDOS and 32K

STATE TODAY’S PASSWORD
(one of many obstacles)

107 locations and 16 treasures in
machine language

For Brave Explorers $16.00

Complete Map Sets
$10 per game

Excerpt from ‘A Remarkable Experience’

You are standing on a small grassy knoll in the
midst of a dense forest. Two obvious paths lead
East and North. A rushing stream can be heard in
the distance.

7NORTH

You are standing at the base of a wide oak tree. A
path leading West and a stream leading South be¬
gin here. The low branches make this tree appear
inviting to climb.

7CLIMBTREE

Effortlessly, you ascend the oak tree and pause,
standing on the first big branch.

To the East, in the distance, a small hut can be
seen.

7CLIMBTREE

Which way?

7CLIMB UP

You are sitting in a natural ‘v’ formed by two
branches in the top of the wide oak tree. To the East,
the small hut can be seen, easily.

Burned into a nearby branch is a clue:

7READCLUE

First Password—

“Einstein was a very _

scientist, but not us.”

7SEARCH

You have discovered a ring of keys hanging on a
nail halfway around the tree.

7GETKEYS

The tree is too big around and you can’t reach
them.

with graphics

Needs H8, HI 7 & HI9 or H89
and any version of HDOS and32K

For Remarkable Explorers $25

Hoyle & Hoyle Software

716 S. Elam Ave., Greensboro, NC 27403
Bank Cards, COD: (919) 378-1050

Excerpt from ‘A Galactic Experience’

You are in the communications center of Earth’s spaceport. The
room is circular in shape and doors leave the room like spokes on a
wheel.

The lieutenant on duty says, ‘Captain, your departure is all set for
0800 hours tomorrow morning. Have you decided on your course vec¬
tors?’

A clock on the wall reads 1620 hours.

7EAST

You are in a foyer leading to the wing of private quarters. This room
contains lots of comfortable sofas and chairs.

A sign above the entrance reads:

Through these portals pass the elite of the space adventurers. Feel
free to connect up to the computer using the entrance code PUBLIC
and the password SECRET.

A clock on the wall reads 1640 hours

There is a computer CRT terminal here.

7LOGON COMPUTER

User Name:

7PUBLIC

Password:

7SECRET

Welcome to the universal information retrieval service.

Please remember that all captains should check in with the base
commander three hours before liftoff.

Information available on:

1) Planet Locations

2) Ship Personnel seeking employment

3) General Gossip

Marvelous Experiences

CIRCLE #121 ON READER SERVICE CARD

42 Sextant Spring, 1982

Rubik’s Cube:

A Computer Simulation

in Microsoft BASIC

—Arthur A. Frost—

The cube invented by Erno Rubik in
Hungary a few years ago is now selling
like wildfire in toy stores across the
United States. It has been the subject of
newspaper and magazine articles all the
way from the Wall Street Journal to the
Readers Digest. A most interesting de¬
tailed description and discussion by
Douglas R. Hofstadter appeared in the
March 1981 issue of Scientific American.

On each of the cube’s six faces, there
appear the faces of nine smaller cubes
called “cubies”. The cube is cleverly
constructed so that each cube face can
be turned clockwise or counterclock¬
wise. The original, or pristine, cube
having a separate color on each of the
faces, after one or more turns of cube
faces, the colors will now be mixed up to
form a varied pattern. The aim of the
puzzle is to return the cube to its original
form. If the original cube has been
subjected to four or more random turns
it is surprisingly difficult for a neophyte
to solve the puzzle. It is also of interest to
investigate various unusual or attractive
patterns that can be produced by a
series of cube operations.

Putting Rubik’s Cube on computer

Why would one wish to simulate the
cube on a computer? With the real cube,
a beginner will easily arrive at a con¬
figuration which is so disordered that he
may give up the struggle. With the
computer, and using a program such as
the one presented here, it is possible to
begin afresh and try many different
cube operation combinations. Of course,
one can also carry out operations much
more rapidly than by handling the cube.

In order to show cube operation
results on a video terminal, one needs a
presentation of all faces of the cube. The
most obvious solution to this problem is
to think of cutting the edges of the cube,
as if it were made of paper, and folding
out the top, bottom, and the two sides.
Suppose the back face is folded out
while attached to the right side. The
result are diagrams such as are shown in
Illustrations 1 to 3. In these diagrams,
the six colors of the pristine cube are
identified by the numbers 1 through 6
for Red, Blue, White, Green, Yellow,
and Orange, respectively. Illustration 1
shows the pristine cube where each face
has nine identical letters. Illustration 2

shows the result after the right face has
been rotated by 90 degrees clockwise.
Notice that the right face proper is
unchanged with its color “4” but that the

edges of the right face as they appear on
the sides of the front, top, back and
bottom have all been shifted around, the
“3’s” from the front are now on the top,

CUBE

COLORS

2 2 2

3 4 4 4

2 2 2

3 4 4 4

2 2 2

LEFT

FRONT

3 4 4 4

RIGHT

BACK

ENTER OPERATION

( ' 2 '

6 6

DOWN

for repeat of instructions.)

Illustration 1 : Cube in

pristine form. Numbers identify colors.

CUBE

COLORS

2 2 2

6 4 4 4

2 2 2

6 4 4 4

2 2 2

LEFT

FRONT

6 4 4 4

RIGHT

BACK

ENTER OPERATION

( 1 2 1

6 5

DOWN

for repeat of instructions.

)

Illustration 2: Cube after operation R+ for clockwise rotation of right face.

Sextant Spring 1982 43

F+B-U+D-R+L

-F+B-

CUBE COLORS

6 6 6

4 111

2 2

6 2 6

4 14 1

2 5

6 6 6

LEFT

FRONT

4 111

RIGHT

2 2

BACK

ENTER OPERATION

('2'

5 5

DOWN

for repeat of instructions.)

Illustration 3: Cube after combined operation: F+B — U+D — R+L — F+B —.

the “l’s” of the top have shifted to the
back, etc.

The program used

The letters used to indicate the various
cube operations, are defined in the
listing of the computer program. Clock¬
wise quarter turns are indicated by F+,
FT, L+, B+, LH-, and DT for the
corresponding face. (U, up, designates
the top and D, down, the bottom. Be
careful not to use B for bottom.) A minus
is used to indicate the counter¬
clockwise operation. The program is
such that a combination of many opera¬
tions can be entered at one time. See
line 730 and the operation symbol PP$.
Illustration 3 is the result of such a
combined operation: namely, f+b-u+d-
R+L-F+B-. (Note that in entering such

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CIRCLE #126 ON READER SERVICE CARD
44 Sextant Spring 1982

3 3 | 4 4

3 I 4

5 3|4 4

Illustration 4: Perspective view corresponding
to Illustration 1.

data each letter must be followed by
either a plus or a minus.) The pattern in
Illustration 3 is equivalent to what is
called “Dots” by Hofstadter.

Many interesting mathematical fea¬
tures of the cube as discussed by
Hofstadter can be investigated quickly
using the program. For example, con¬
sider the operation pair R+C7+. Such
operation naturally will mix up the faces
and edges of the right and upper faces.
If this operation pair is repeated seven
times, the edge cubies return to their
initial positions and orientations. To do
the same with the corner cubies takes
fifteen combined operations. It is appar-

Illustration 5: View corresponding to
Illustration 2.

ent that if the operations are carried out
seven times fifteen, or 105 times, the
cube will return to its pristine form.
Whereas to do such 105 combined
operations by hand is obviously very
tedious, it is easily accomplished on the
computer. The program is such that
after typing an operation such as r+u+,
one need only press the return key 105
times. An easier way is to type r+u+
R+u+fl+u+fl+u+R+u+fl+u+R+u+ and
press the return fifteen times.

As the program is written, by the way,
the designation of numbers for the
colors is on lines 140 and 150. You may
prefer to use letters instead, or graphics
features. If so, you need only substitute
your desired designation for the numbers
in the quotes. This will also enable you to
change the cube’s orientation if, for
instance, you think Red should really be
in front instead of White.

Three control operations are defined.
When an operation is requested (line
730) entering a “0” will return the cube
to the initial condition, like “solving” the
puzzle instantly. Entering a “1” has the
efffect of providing a more realistic
perspective diagram of the cube after
any arbitrary set of operations. Examples
of such diagrams are shown in Illustra¬
tions 4, 5, and 6 which correspond to
Illustrations 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
Each such diagram can show only the
one orientation with the front, upper
and right faces visible. No attempt was
made to program the view from other
directions. Entering a “2” causes a restart
of the program so that the instructions
can be reviewed at any time.

The program is written in Microsoft
BASIC as implemented for the HDOS
operating system on a Heathkit H8
computer with 40K memory, an HI9
terminal and HI7 disk drive. The pro¬
gram can probably operate with a 32K
memory after trimming out some of the
instruction print statements. H19/H89
graphics symbols have been used to
produce the perspective diagram.

A similar cube simulation program
has been published by J. W. Pehousek in
Dr. Dobb s Journal.

References:

Wall Street Journal, March 5, 1981
Reader s Digest, May 1981
Scientific American, March 1981
Time, March 23, 1981
Dr. Dobb’s Journal, July 1981

Illustration 6: View corresponding to
Illustration 3.

10 ' CUBE PROGRAM - SIMULATES RUBIK'S CUBE

20 ' BY A.A.FROST, 195 EAGLE LN., RR#4, SEDONA, AZ 86336

30 ’ MODIFICATION USING H19/H89 GRAPHICS.

40 CLEAR 200

50 DEFINT A-Z: DIM C$(6,3,3)

60 ' DEFINE GRAPHIC CHARACTERS AND COMBINATIONS
70 CS$=CHR$(27)+"E" ' CLEAR SCREEN ESCAPE CODE

80 F$=CHR$ (27) + "F" : G$=CHR$ (27)+"G" : CH$=F$ + "'• "+G$

90 Zl$=F$+"("+G$: Z2$=F$+"a"+G$: Z3$=F$+"z"+G$

100 XU$=Zl$+" "+Z2$+" "+Z3$: XD$=Z3$+" "+Z2$+" "+Zl$

110 T$=" " ' 10 SPACES

120 ' DEFINE COLORS
130 DIM CL$(6)

140 CL$(1)=" 1":CL$(2)=" 2”:CL$(3)=" 3"

150 CL$(4)=" 4":CL$(5)=" 5":CL$(6)=" 6"

160 PRINT CS$ ' CLEAR SCREEN

170 PRINT TAB(25)"RUBIK'S CUBE":PRINT

180 PRINT T$"This program simulates the rotations of the faces"

190 PRINTsPRINT T$"of the cube. It begins with the pristine or"

200 PRINT:PRINT T$"unscrambled cube. One can produce various"

210 PRINT:PRINT T$"patterns by carrying out several cube operations."
220 PRINT:PRINT T$"Or one can try 'solving' the cube after it has"

230 PRINT:PRINT T$"been scrambled by another person.":PRINT

240

250

260

270

280

PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
290 PRINT
300 PRINT
310 PRINT

:PRINT T$"The cube faces have colors indicated by the numbers:"

:PRINT T$"1 for red, 2 for blue, 3 for white, 4 for green,"

:PRINT T$"5 for yellow, and 6 for orange."

:PRINT TAB(40)"To continue, press ’RETURN'.":Z$=INPUT$(1)

CS$

" CUBE FACE OPERATIONS"

iPRINT T$"The operations corresponding to the various possible"

:PRINT T$"cube face rotations are defined as follows:"

rotate the front face 90 degrees"
clockwise and counterclockwise."
rotate the back face."
rotate the right face."
rotate the left face."
rotate the upper face."

rotate the down, or bottom face.":PRINT

400 PRINT CS$ ' CLEAR SCREEN

410 PRINT:PRINT " ENTERING OPERATIONS":PRINT:PRINT

420 PRINT:PRINT T$"When 'OPERATION' is requested by the computer just type in"
430 PRINT:PRINT T$"any of the above operations, say F+, and press 'RETURN'."
440 PRINT:PRINT T$"Also if you wish to carry out two or more operations before
450 PRINT:PRINT T$"seeing the result just type in the successive operations on
460 PRINT:PRINT T$"the same line, e.g. R+L- will rotate right and left faces"
470 PRINT:PRINT T$"together. A whole line of operations can be input at once"
480 PRINT:PRINT T$"if desired but the computing time will be considerable."

490 PRINT:PRINT:PRINT TAB(40)"To continue press 'RETURN'.":Z$=INPUT$(1)

500 PRINT CS$:PRINT:PRINT

510 PRINT:PRINT T$"Once an operation or series of operations has been entered"
520 PRINT:PRINT T$"it can be repeated just by pressing 'RETURN' since the"

530 PRINT:PRINT T$"last entry is still stored in memory."

540 PRINT:PRINT

320

PRINT:PRINT

T$ "

F+

and

F-

330

PRINT:PRINT

T$ "

340

PRINT:PRINT

T$ "

B+

and

B-

350

PRINT:PRINT

T$ "

R+

and

R-

360

PRINT:PRINT

T$ "

L+

and

L-

370

PRINT:PRINT

T$ "

U+

and

U-

380

PRINT:PRINT

T$ "

D+

and

D-

390

PRINT:PRINT

TAB(40)

"To

contini

550 PRINT:PRINT T$"Since capital letters are required, it would help to have"
560 PRINT:PRINT T$"the 'CAPS LOCK' key down.":PRINT

570 PRINT TAB(40)"To continue press 'RETURN'":Z$=INPUT$(1):PRINT CS$

Sextant Spring 1982 45

580 PRINT " SPECIAL CONTROL OPERATIONS":PRINT

590 PRINT:PRINT T$"When 'OPERATION' is requested:"

600 PRINT:PRINT T$" Entering 'O' produces the pristine cube."

610 PRINT:PRINT T$" Entering '1' produces a perspective diagram for the"

620 PRINT:PRINT T$" current state of the cube."

630 PRINT:PRINT T$" Entering '2' restarts the program at the instructions."
640 PRINT:PRINT:PRINT

650 PRINT " NOW HERE WE GO! You will now see a diagram for the cube in a"

660 PRINT:PRINT T$"folded-out view. Just press 'RETURN'"

670 Z$=INPUT$(1) ' WAITS FOR A KEY TO BE PRESSED

680 ' SET FACE 'COLORS' AS LETTERS. PRINT DIAGRAM
690 FOR 1=1 TO 6:FOR J=1 TO 3:FOR K=1 TO 3
700 C$(I,J,K)=CL$(I): NEXT K: NEXT J: NEXT I
710 GOTO 1280

720 PRINT "ENTER OPERATION ('2' for repeat of instructions.)

730 INPUT " ";PP$: LL=LEN(PP$)

740 FOR 11=1 TO LL STEP 2: OP$=MID$(PP$,II, 2 )

750

OP$="F+"

THEN

1— 1
a\

760

OP$="F-"

THEN

960

770

OP$="R+"

THEN

970

780

OP$="R-"

THEN

1020

790

OP$="U+"

THEN

1030

800

OP$="U-"

THEN

1080

810

OP$="L+"

THEN

1090

820

OP$="L-"

THEN

1140

830

OP$="D+"

THEN

1150

840

OP$="D-"

THEN

1200

850

OP$="B+"

THEN

1210

860

OP$="B-"

THEN

1260

870

OP$="0"

THEN 690

880

OP$="l" 1

THEN 1490

890

OP$="2" 1

THEN 160

900 GOTO 720

910 RESTORE 910: GOSUB 1400: GOTO 1370
920 ' DATA FOR F AND F'

930 DATA 3,1,3,3,1,1,3,3,1,3,3,3, 3,1,2,3,2,1,3,3,2,3,2,3

940 DATA 1,3,3,2,1,3,6,1,1,4,3,1, 1,3,1,2,3,3,6,1,3,4,1,1

950 DATA 1,3,2,2,2,3,6,1,2,4,2,1

960 RESTORE 910: GOSUB 1440: GOTO 1370

970 RESTORE 970: GOSUB 1400: GOTO 1370

980 ' DATA FOR R AND R'

990 DATA 4,1,3,4,1,1,4,3,1,4,3,3, 4,1,2,4,2,1,4,3,2,4,2,3

1000 DATA 1,2,3,3,2,3,6,2,3,5,2,1, 1,1,3,3,1,3,6,1,3,5,3,1

1010 DATA 1,3,3,3,3,3,6,3,3,5,1,1

1020 RESTORE 970: GOSUB 1440: GOTO 1370

1030 RESTORE 1030: GOSUB 1400: GOTO 1370

1040 ' DATA FOR U AND U'

1050 DATA 1,1,3,1,1,1,1,3,1,1,3,3, 1,1,2,1,2,1,1,3,2,1,2,3

1060 DATA 3,1,3,4,1,3,5,1,3,2,1,3, 3,1,1,4,1,1,5,1,1,2,1,1

1070 DATA 3,1,2,4,1,2,5,1,2,2,1,2

1080 RESTORE 1030: GOSUB 1440: GOTO 1370

1090 RESTORE 1090: GOSUB 1400: GOTO 1370

1100 ' DATA FOR L AND L'

1110 DATA 2,1,3,2,1,1,2,3,1,2,3,3, 2,1,2,2,2,1,2,3,2,2,2,3

1120 DATA 1,1,1,5,3,3,6,1,1,3,1,1, 1,3,1,5,1,3,6,3,1,3,3,1

1130 DATA 1,2,1,5,2,3,6,2,1,3,2,1

1140 RESTORE 1090: GOSUB 1440: GOTO 1370

1150 RESTORE 1150: GOSUB 1400: GOTO 1370

1160 ' DATA FOR D AND D’

1170 DATA 6,1,3,6,1,1,6,3,1,6,3,3, 6,1,2,6,2,1,6,3,2,6,2,3

46 Sextant Spring 1982

1180 DATA 2,3,1,5,3,1,4,3,1,3,3,1, 2,3,3,5,3,3,4,3,3,3,3,3

1190 DATA 2,3,2,5,3,2,4,3,2,3,3,2

1200 RESTORE 1150: GOSUB 1440: GOTO 1370

1210 RESTORE 1210: GOSUB 1400: GOTO 1370

1220 ’ DATA FOR B AND B'

1230 DATA 5,1,3,5,1,1,5,3,1,5,3,3, 5,1,2,5,2,1,5,3,2,5,2,3

1240 DATA 1,1,1,4,1,3,6,3,3,2,3,1, 1,1,3,4,3,3,6,3,1,2,1,1

1250 DATA 1,1,2,4,2,3,6,3,2,2,2,1

1260 RESTORE 1210: GOSUB 1440: GOTO 1370

1270 ' "COLOR" PRINTING ROUTINE

1280 PRINT CS$:FOR J=1 TO 3:PRINT TAB(18);:FOR K=1 TO 3:PRINT @

C$(1,J,K);

1290 PRINT SPC(3);:NEXT K:PRINT:IF J<>3 THEN PRINT:NEXT J
1300 PRINT TAB(23)"UP"TAB(45)"CUBE COLORS"

1310 FOR J=1 TO 3:PRINT:FOR 1=2 TO 5:FOR K=1 TO 3:PRINT C$(I,J,K);

1320 PRINT SPC(3);:NEXT K:PRINT SPC(3);:NEXT I:PRINT:NEXT J
1330 PRINT " LEFT FRONT RIGHT

"BACK"

1340 FOR J=1T03:PRINT:PRINT TAB(18);:FOR K=1 TO 3:PRINT C$(6,J,K);

1350 PRINT SPC(3);:NEXT K:PRINT:NEXT J:PRINT TAB(23)"DOWN"

1360 IF II>=LL THEN 720
1370 NEXT II
1380 GOTO 1270
1390 END

1400 ' CLOCKWISE ROTATION

1410 FOR 1=1 TO 5: READ II,Jl,K1,12,J2,K2,13,J3,K3,14,J4,K4

1420 CT$=C$(II,J1,K1):C$(I1,J1,K1)=C$(12,J2,K2):C$(12,J2,K2)=C$(I3,J3,K3)

1430 C$(I3,J3,K3)=C$(I4,J4,K4):C$(I4,J4,K4)=CT$:NEXT I:RETURN

1440 ’ COUNTERCLOCKWISE ROTATION

1450 FOR 1=1 TO 5: READ II,Jl,Kl,12,J2,K2,13,J3,K3,14,J4,K4

1460 CT$=C$(II,J1,K1):C$(11,Jl,Kl)=C$(14,J4,K4):C$(14,J4,K4)=C$(I3,J3,K3)

1470 C$(I3,J3,K3)=C$(I2,J2,K2):C$(I2,J2,K2)=CT$:NEXT I: RETURN

1480 ' ROUTINE FOR PERSPECTIVE DIAGRAM

1490 PRINT CS$: S=20

1500 PRINT TAB(S+18)Zl$;" ";Z2$;" ";Zl$

1510 PRINT TAB(S+13)XU$SPC(5)XD$

1520 PRINT TAB(S+8)XU$;SPC(7);C$(1,1,1);SPC(6)XD$

1530 PRINT TAB(S+3)XU$SPC(7);C$(1,2,1);SPC(8);C$(1,1,2);SPC(6)XD$

1540 PRINT TAB(S)Z2$;" ";Z3$;SPC(7);C$(1,3,1);SPC(8);C$(1,2,2);SPC(8);@
C$(1,1,3);SPC(6)Z3$;" ";Z2$

1550 PRINT TAB(S)CH$SPC(2)XD$SPC(7);C$(1,3,2);SPC(8);C$(1,2,3);SPC(6)@
XU$SPC(2)CH$

1560 PRINT TAB(S)CH$SPC(7)XD$SPC(7);C$(1,3,3);SPC(6)XU$SPC(7)CH$

1570 PRINT TAB(S)CH$SPC(4);C$(3,1,1);SPC(6)XD$SPC(5);XU$SPC(7);C$ (4,1,3)
SPC(3)CH$

1580 PRINT TAB(S)CH$SPC(9);C$(3,1,2);SPC(6)Z3$;" ";Z2$;" "?Z3$SPC(7);@

C$ (4,1,2);SPC(8)CH$

1590 PRINT TAB(S)CH$SPC(4);C$(3,2,1);SPC(8);C$(3,1,3);SPC(3)CH$SPC(4)

C$(4,1,1);SPC(8);C$(4,2,3);SPC(3)CH$

1600 PRINT TAB(S)CH$SPC(9);C$(3,2,2);SPC(8)CH$SPC(9);C$(4,2,2);SPC(8)CH$
1610 PRINT TAB(S)CH$SPC(4);C$(3,3,1);SPC(8);C$(3,2,3);SPC(3)CH$SPC(4)

C$(4,2,1);SPC(8);C$(4,3,3);SPC(3)CH$

1620 PRINT TAB(S)Z2$;" ";Zl$SPC(7);C$(3,3,2);SPC(8)CH$SPC(9);C$(4,3,2)
SPC(6)Zl$;" ";Z2$

1630 PRINT TAB(S+3)XD$SPC(7);C$(3,3,3);SPC(3)CH$SPC(4);C$(4,3,1)

SPC(6)XU$

1640 PRINT TAB(S+8)XD$SPC(7)CH$SPC(7)XU$

1650 PRINT TAB(S+13)XD$SPC(2)CH$SPC(2)XU$

1660 PRINT TAB(S+18)Z3$;" ";Z2$;" ";Z3$

1670 PRINT: GOTO720

Sextant Spring 1982 47

Disk Programming Without HDOS

— Richard E. Smith—

Programming your own disk input/output
(I/O) functions on your H89 or Z89 (or H8/17)
isn’t hard once you know how.

Maybe you are a free-lance programmer
with an application program to sell. Maybe
you’re a tinkerer and like to do things yourself.
Or maybe you’re someone like me who just
happens to have a special situation in which an
operating system gets in the way. Whatever the
case, you’re interested in running without an
operating system, in this case, the Heath Disk
Operating System (HDOS). If you’ve consulted
your system manuals, you’ll find lots of infor¬
mation about how to talk to the console and
how to program the line printer and modem
ports. But you won’t find the information you
need to use the disk drives without HDOS.

First, let’s think a moment about what it
means to run without an operating system such
as HDOS. The idea is that your own program,
whatever it does, will be the only program run¬
ning in the computer. You will not have the
operating system’s software to manage your
computer’s resources. Your own program will
have to provide whatever needs you have. If
you want to be able to use the line or char¬
acter delete keys to correct something you’ve
typed in, you have to write your program to do
it itself. If you want to manipulate files, you
have to write your own filing routines. For
many people, this is too much trouble and
they’ll gladly use an operating system.

For other people, an operating system may
just be an unnecessary expense. A programmer
developing software for non-technical people,
for example, might want to spare the users from
the obscurities of such systems. More likely
though, the programmers would want to lower
the cost of using their software by not using
an operating system. This then saves the users
the cost of having to buy one. An operating
system’s cost isn’t only measured in money.
The sheer size of HDOS makes it very expen¬
sive to use in terms of disk space, especially
in single-disk systems.

If you are thinking about making a program
run without HDOS, you should consider two
factors. First, your program has to be written
in assembly language. Most programs written
in higher level languages such as BASIC rely
very heavily on the operating system. Since
the operating system deals with the computer

in assembly language, your program will have
to do the same.

Second, your program has to have its own
rules for organizing the data on the diskette
since you no longer have the operating system’s
file system. A Forth interpreter is an example
of such a program: it does not expect a disk to
have a file system. Database management sys¬
tems are another good example: they are sel¬
dom organized around HDOS or CP/M file
structures but instead implement their own.

Using the diskette drive

The design of the H17 disk system (and
thus the H/Z89 disk systems)makes it very sim¬
ple to program disk I/O without HDOS. The
basic I/O routines are provided for you in a
read-only memory (ROM) that comes as part of
the disk system. This was a key part of the disk
system design. Heath was able to keep the
hardware costs down by providing a very sim¬
ple disk controller board and doing most of the
hard work with software in ROM. The pro¬
grams in the ROM take full responsibility for
the disk head’s stepping in and out locating
sectors, and for moving data into and out of
the disk at the right times. Usually, you only
have to call the proper ROM subroutine if you
wish to read or write data on the disk.

Here is a list of locations you’ll be using
when you use the ROM to accomplish basic
I/O routines. The addresses are given in
HDOS split octal format:

Address

Name

Usage

40133

D.MOUNT

Routine for mounting
a diskette

40147

D.READ

Routine to read sectors
from diskette

40155

D.WRITE

Routine to write
sectors on diskette

40247

D.VOLPT

Word pointing to
current volume

number

41061

AIO.UNI

Byte selecting desired
diskette drive

An interesting note: none of those address¬
es are actually in the ROM itself. All of them
refer to locations in regular memory reserved
for use by the ROM. These locations are auto¬
matically initialized whenever the power

48 Sextant Spring 1982

comes on or a “reset” occurs.

Diskette reading and writing are true ran¬
dom-access operations. You must always speci¬
fy the desired sector address when reading or
writing. Sectors are numbered sequentially
starting with zero for the first sector on the
outermost track. There are 400 sectors on each
diskette arranged in 40 tracks of ten sectors
each. The ROM routines automatically com¬
pute the proper track number and sector with¬
in the track from the absolute sector number.

The conventions for calling D.READ and
D.WRITE subroutines are virtually identical.
Both take an absolute sector address in the HL
register pair. This tells where on the disk the
I/O operation is to start. Both expect a mem¬
ory address for an I/O buffer in the DE
register. Both also expect to find in the BC
register the number of bytes to transfer during
the I/O operation. This must always be a mul¬
tiple of 256 bytes, or one disk sector. The ROM
I/O routines will not transfer only part of a
sector. All I/O operations must take place on
full sectors. If an error occurs during either
reading or writing, the subroutine will return
with the Carry bit set, otherwise the Carry bit
will be cleared. Here are examples of the call¬
ing conventions for D.READ and D.WRITE:

LXI

H,sector#

Point to location
on the disk

LXI

B,length

Number of bytes to
transfer

LXI

D,address

Memory location to
read in to

CALL

D.READ

Call the read routine

diskerr

Jump if I/O error occurs

LXI

H,sector#

Point to location
on the disk

LXI

B,length

Number of bytes to write

LXI

D,address

Memory location to
write from

CALL

D.WRITE

Call the write routine

diskerr

Jump if I/O error occurs

The H17 disk system is designed so that
the ROM software is always aware of the disk¬
ette's volume number. This causes disk oper¬
ations to fail if you replace the diskette in the
drive without telling the software. The secret
to this is in the formatting of data on the disk¬
ettes themselves. As in most disk formats, each
sector has a “sector header” containing the
track number and sector number of that sector.
In the H17 system (and in the Z89/H89 as
well), this header also contains the diskette's
8-bit volume number. The disk ROM software
verifies the volume number every time it veri¬
fies the other address information in a sector
header.

Use the D.MOUNT routine to tell the disk-

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ette’s volume number to the ROM. D.MOUNT
resets the disk drive hardware, initializes a
few variables, and saves the diskette’s volume
number. When calling D.MOUNT, the disk¬
ette’s 8-bit volume number is passed in the L
register to the D.MOUNT subroutine. Here is
an example of the calling sequence:

MVI L,volume# Volume number of diskette
CALL D.MOUNT Mount the diskette

(Never returns an error)

You can always find the current volume
number by using an address stored at D.VOLPT
in the ROM’s work space. This “indirect” ref¬
erence is used to simplify things when per¬
forming I/O operations with multiple disk
drives. Here is an example of how to load the
current drive’s volume number into the A reg¬
ister:

LHLD D.VOLPT Get pointer to volume number
MOV A,M Get the volume number

The “Boot” command reads a program from
the first track of the diskette (called the “boot
track”) into memory and executes it. This is
another function that is built into the compu¬
ter’s ROM programs. When you turn on the
power to your computer (or press the Shift/
Reset key) the computer initializes its hard¬

ware and then jumps to the ROM’s initializa¬
tion routine. The ROM then initializes its area
in regular memory; and, in the H89, prints the
“H:” prompt. The ROM’s routines will then
recognize a small set of commands including
the “Boot” command.

Before looking at the “Boot” command in
detail, let us look at the “boot track” for a
moment. Like any other track on the diskette,
the boot track contains ten sectors. The first
nine sectors (numbered 0 through 8) are the
“boot blocks” and are loaded into memory
when the “Boot” command is executed. The
last sector on the track, Sector 9, is the “label
block” that gets filled in when the volume is
initialized. The first byte of the label block
contains the diskette’s volume number.

Getting the program loaded in

The “Boot” command reads those first nine
sectors of the boot track into the computer’s
user program area (called “USERFWA” in
HDOS) and then jumps to the beginning of
this program. This is how your program gets
loaded in without HDOS and starts running.
Your program may use the memory stack; the
ROM sets it up starting at USERFWA before
executing your program. You may assume that
all I/O devices have been initialized and that
the interrupt system is enabled. Booting is very
simple and convenient if your program fits in
nine disk sectors (that’s only 2304 bytes). It’s
a bit harder to boot a larger program and most
programs are going to be larger. We’ll look at
how to handle this in a moment.

If you think for a moment, you might won¬
der how the “Boot” command deals with vol¬
ume numbers. It turns out that the boot track
is treated in a special way so that the boot
track is easy to read. The boot track of a disk¬
ette is always initialized with a volume num¬
ber of zero. The “Boot” command then only
needs to set the volume number to zero before
reading the boot blocks. The booted program
then has to mount the diskette itself before it
can access the rest of the diskette. This in¬
volves reading the label block, extracting the
volume number, and passing it to the D.MOUNT
routine. The label block is the last block on the
boot track so that the program may read it with¬
out having to mount the diskette.

Listing 1 is an example of how to use some
of these techniques. Earlier, we had talked
about how only a small program can fit on the
boot blocks by itself. If your program doesn’t
fit on the boot blocks, it has to read in the
rest of the program from somewhere else on
the diskette. The code in Listing 1 is meant
to do this. The code reads the label block, ex¬
tracts the diskette volume number, mounts the

50 Sextant Spring 1982

diskette, and then reads the rest of the program
from somewhere on the diskette.

Consider a few interesting things about this
code. First, notice that the code needs to know
where the rest of the program is stored on the
disk. In this code, the symbol “LSECTOR”
should represent the number of the starting
sector where the program is stored on the disk¬
ette. Instead of this, you may wish to store it
in a variable somewhere, perhaps in an unused
location in the boot blocks. Second, notice that
the program’s size is rounded upwards to a full
sector’s size. This is in keeping with the rule
that all disk I/O operations must transfer full
sectors.

A couple of other points: the code in List¬

ing 1 halts when it encounters an I/O error.
There is no reason why you can’t make the
code do something else if you desire. Also not¬
ice how BOOTLEN is used. The above code
uses the area immediately following the
booted code as a buffer when reading the label
block. This is done by referring to the location
START + BOOTLEN. This location is used
only because it is convenient. The code then
loads in the rest of the program starting at that
location.

Putting the program onto diskette

So far we have covered how your program
can use the diskette drive and how your pro¬
gram gets loaded into the computer. Let us

Diskette mount routine
Diskette read routine
Diskette write routine
Start of program area
Length of boot blocks

D.MOUNT EQU

D.READ EQU

D.WRITE EQU

USERFWA EQU

BOOTLEN EQU

ORG

START LXI

LXI

CALL

JNC

HLT

STRT1 LDA

MOV

CALL

LXI

CALL

JNC

HLT

STRT2

PGMSIZE EQU

PGMLEN EQU

ORG

END

40133A
40147A
40155A
42200A
9*256

USERFWA

H,9

D, USERFWA +
BOOTLEN
B,256
D.READ
STRT1

USERFWA +
BOOTLEN
L,A

D.MOUNT
H,LSECTOR

D,USERFWA +
BOOTLEN
B,PGMLEN -
BOOTLEN
D.READ

STRT2

♦-START

PGMSIZE/256*256

START + PGMLEN
START

Sector for label
block

Point past booted
program

Read one sector

Read the label block

Halt on error

Fetch the volume
number

Mount the diskette

Sector with rest
of pgm

Where rest of pgm
goes

Length of rest
of program

Read in rest of
program

Halt on error

Start of your
program

End of your program

Actual length of
your pgm

Length in full
sectors

Listing 1

Sextant Spring 1982 51

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now look at putting the program onto the disk¬
ette.

First, you have to decide where to store the
part of your program that won’t fit on the boot
blocks. The right answer to this question de¬
pends entirely on what kinds of disk I/O your
program needs to do. Decide how you want to
organize your disk space and be sure to set
aside a block of contiguous space to hold your
program. Then be sure that the part of your
program on the boot blocks knows where the
rest of the program is. Two natural places to
consider are the sectors immediately following
the boot track or the sectors right before the
end of the diskette.

There are two steps to installing your pro¬
gram onto a diskette without HDOS. Be sure
to start with a formatted diskette. The disk
system can not read or write data on a disk¬
ette that has not been formatted. You must use
a utility program such as “INIT” in HDOS to
format the diskette. Once you have a formatted
diskette, you are ready to start.

Once you’ve decided where you want to
store your program on the diskette, you can
then plan how to get your program there. You
need to write a program to write your program
onto the right places on the diskette. This can
be a “utility” program that you use when de¬
veloping your software. A better approach
might be to make this a part of the software of
your application system. This will make it
easier for you to make copies of your system

without always relying on your development
system.

The first step in installing your program is
to write the first nine sectors of the program
onto the boot blocks of the diskette. This simp¬
ly involves calling the disk write routine after
setting the volume number to zero. Here is an
example of this:

LHLD D.VOLPT
MOV E,M
MVI M,0
PUSH D

LXI

CALL

H,0

Get volume number pointer
Get volume number
Set it to zero
Save the old value

Write to sector zero
B,BOOTLEN Length of boot blocks
D,START From start of program

D.WRITE Write boot blocks

wberror Branch if error

LHLD D.VOLPT
POP D
MOV M,E

Get number pointer again
Get back the volume number
Restore its old value

Now you need to write the rest of the pro¬
gram onto the place on the disk you’ve decided
it should be. Assuming that the symbol
“LSECTOR” equals the sector number where
the program should be, here is the code to
write it there:

LXI H,LSECTOR Get the sector address

LXI D,USERFWA Address of rest of program

+ BOOTLEN

LXI B,PGMLEN - Length of rest

BOOTLEN of program

CALL D.WRITE Write program to disk
JC bterror Branch if error

Now that you’ve written your program onto the
diskette, you can try to boot it using the “Boot”
command. On the H89, press shift/reset on the
keyboard and then type “B” followed by a carriage
return. You will still see the “Type SPACES to
determine baud rate” message, even though you’re
not booting HDOS. This is because the message is
always typed out by the ROM’s “Boot” command
even if the message isn’t appropriate. You don’t
really have to type any spaces, so just ignore,ihe
message. After it types out the message, the “Boot”
command loads and executes your program from
the boot blocks.

So, there you are. As I said in the begin¬
ning, programming your own disk I/O func¬
tions isn’t hard once you know how. If you
have a need to run without HDOS, the Heath
Co. has made it easy with their design of the
disk systems for the H8, H89, and Z89 micro¬
computers.

52 Sextant Spring 1982

A Candid Look at Tiny Pascal

Arnold R. Madeira

For some time now, it has been com¬
mon to find articles on the Pascal
language in many computer-related
magazines. My own interest crept into
focus as more and more of these stories
paraded by. Possibly, the point was to
arouse some interest in the people who
browse through these periodicals. “Can
this Pascal thing be as great as all these
guys say it is?” I asked myself; “How
much of this enthusiasm is pure hype?”

Eventually, I was moved to take a
closer look to see what is involved in
getting into Pascal. I wanted to find out
for myself what structured program¬
ming was all about and how useful the
while... do... and the repeat... until...
functions really were. If you are a
BASIC-bred part-time computer hobby¬
ist like me, you haven’t seen these
constructs before. So you dig out the
Heathkit catalog to see if they have
discovered Pascal yet.Marvelous... They
have it! Your elation continues all the
way through the catalog listing until you
come to the place where it says that the
up-front money required to pursue this
curiosity is three hundred smackers!

Unless you have a very compelling
reason to dabble in Pascal, or you’re a
little more flush than most of us, three
hundred dollars is likely to quench your
budding enthusiasm completely. After
all, you could invest your hard-earned
cash in this project, work up a lather for a
few months, and finally conclude that
Pascal is not your cup of tea. Now you’re
out three hundred dollars with very
little to show for it.

Well, it turns out that there is an
alternative. It has been there for some
time hiding in the Heath Users’ Group
software listing. I would never have
noticed it except that somewhere in my
Heath-related literature someone said
something nice about it. Upon checking,
I found that this offering consists of the
HUG Tiny Pascal for HDOS disk, a
system which includes a Tiny Pascal
compiler, a P-code converter, some
documentation, and a few demonstra¬
tion programs.

Pascal—what it is

For those of you who may not have
read up on it yet, Pascal was developed

in the late 1960s by Professor Nicklaus
Wirth of the Swiss Technical Institute in
Zurich, Switzerland. He designed it
specifically to discourage disorder in
programs. In the United States, Pascal’s
principal proponent has been Kenneth
Bowles. At the University of California
at San Diego, he was responsible for the
creation of UCSD Pascal, a system
which featured a compiler that pro¬
duced a universal code which he called
P-code. This code is transportable; that
is, it can be run on any computer with
the aid of a relatively simple P-code
interpreter. The interpreter takes the P-
code and executes it using Z80 code or
6502 code or whatever code your
computer requires.

In most UCSD systems, the P-code
converter is a true interpreter: that is,
the P-code is translated line-by-line
each time it is run, the same as BASIC
does but faster. Unlike UCSD Pascal, the
HDOS Tiny Pascal converter produces
machine code (ABS) files which run
even more rapidly than interpreted P-
code. Because of its speed, Pascal is
really great for writing real-time control
programs.

A full evaluation of the differences
and similarities between BASIC and
Pascal would require a separate article,
but these are some of the principal
points. The most noticeable difference
is that the interactive character of the
BASIC interpreter is absent in Pascal.
For instance, you cannot easily go to any
point in a program and ask for the
current contents of a variable. Instead,
you have to add debugging write state¬
ments in key places to find out what’s
happening. Another interesting differ¬
ence is that Pascal differentiates
between “is equal to” (=) and “is
replaced by” (:=) while BASIC uses the
equal sign for both.

Of course, Pascal is not line number
oriented as is BASIC. That will seem a
little strange at first if you’ve never used
any language but BASIC. But there are
many more similarities than differences.
Although many commands use different
words and punctuation to do the same
things, the intent is most often obvious
on inspection. For instance, few people
will have difficulty seeing that Pascal’s

writeln command is similar to BASIC’s
print instruction. Pascal’s if statement is
very much like the BASIC counterpart.
Pascal uses readln instead of input but
that, too, is not hard to grasp.

The arithmetic operators are the
same in both languages and mathemat¬
ical expressions are handled similarly in
BASIC and Pascal. The for... next loop in
BASIC becomes a for loop without the
next in Pascal. BASIC’s on... goto... con¬
struct is similar to Pascal’s case...of...
statement. Pascal has two statements,
while... do... and repeat... UNTiL...which
have no direct equivalent in BASIC, but
much the same thing can be accom¬
plished with for... next loops in BASIC.

If you plan to get involved with
Pascal, you’ll need to get some reading
material. Pascal literature is plentiful so
you shouldn’t have much trouble find¬
ing some. If you (or your employer) have
access to older copies of Electronic
Design magazine, there is a fine series of
articles on Pascal written by Tim Krouse
beginning in the September 13, 1978
issue and continuing for six installments.
In addition, I have found Pascal Primer
by David Fox and Mitchell Waite to be
most readable, informative, and useful.
On everyone’s recommended list,
Pascal Users Manual and Report by
Kathleen Jensen and Nicklaus Wirth
appears to be the subject’s “bible”.

Pascal versus BASIC

Wirth knew that the first language
programmers learn leaves an indelible
imprint on them in terms of the thinking
patterns they will habitually use to solve
programming problems. He hoped that
by starting student programmers on
Pascal, they would be induced to
develop good code-writing practices
which would tend to influence them
even when they moved on to some less
rigorous language (BASIC, for instance).
For the rest of us sloppy code-hackers,
going backwards from BASIC to Pascal
is a bit tougher. We already have our bad
habits, and dumping them is not likely to
be easy.

If I sound like I’m bad-mouthing
BASIC, I don’t mean to be. There are
some who have made BASIC out to be a
programming language so riddled with

Sextant Spring 1982 53

faults that it doesn’t deserve to exist In
my opinion, BASIC’s success speaks for
itself. There are inherent advantages to
an interactive interpreter language
which are very helpful to the beginning
or part-time programmer. Furthermore,
the best BASICs today deliver a lot of
programming power with such features
as a full complement of mathematical
functions, cursor control, screen control,
integrated editing, and data file
handling.

If I were to make any complaints
about BASIC, they would be these. First,
no two BASICs are alike. The non¬
transportability of BASIC is not only a
problem for the software which will only
run on the machine on which it was
written. It is also a problem for the
programmers who finds themselves get¬
ting tripped up on an endless variety of
punctuation syntax requirements and
different names for the same command.

Second, the flexibility of BASIC is so
great as to almost become a detriment.
Since there are so many ways to do
almost anything in BASIC, there is no
compelling need to develop good
programming habits. While this may be
considered a fault of the programmer
rather than of the language, I believe
that a language can encourage good
structure if it is deliberately designed to
do so.

I haven’t found my own structured
programming skills growing like crab-

grass in my first Pascal attempts. It will
obviously take some willful and con¬
tinued effort to unlearn the poor coding
habits many of us have developed. In
spite of that, Pascal basics are not all that
hard to learn. After writing a few very
short test programs to see if some of
these new commands did what they
were supposed to, I decided to dive
right in and try to re-write one of my
existing BASIC game programs into
Pascal. The program I chose was the
game of Nim.

Pascal versus Tiny Pascal

I picked the game of Nim for two
reasons. First, it was one of the shortest
programs I had in BASIC. Second, it did
not require the use of decimals; one of
Tiny Pascal’s limitations is that it can not
handle decimals.

Tiny Pascal is tiny, of course, because
it lacks several of the built-in features of
regular Pascal. It does even less when
compared to UCSD Pascal to which a
number of goodies have been added. I
have found that trying to operate within
some of these limitations is a real chal¬
lenge at times.

I don’t know what all the differences
are between UCSD Pascal and Tiny
Pascal. As you can guess, this inexpen¬
sive package does not come with
volumes of documentation. But these
are some of the differences I have
found. Lower case characters are not

Good Luck

to Charlie and the crew of Sextant

May your publication be of great value to the
users of Heath and Zenith computers and
related peripheral devices.

The Heath Users’ Group

Hilltop Road
St. Joseph, Ml 49085

permitted in procedure names. Decimal
numbers are not permitted, only
integers. The writeln command is
absent. This command is similar to
BASIC’s print command. Tiny Pascal
uses only the write command in which
you must supply your own line feeds and
carriage returns.

Mathematically, there is no integral
random number function, no modulus
function, and no ordinal function. I have
not found any way for a running pro¬
gram to call and run another program.
On the other hand, some HDOS func¬
tions have been included such as pause,
concl, and all the console input mode
commands. All in all, it’s a lot of pro¬
gramming power for the money.

So decimals and most decimal arith¬
metic are out. In a few situations you can
‘cheat’ by multiplying inputs by powers
of ten high enough to make the re¬
mainder discardable, doing the arith¬
metic with the scaled-up numbers, then
dividing back down.

Another limitation is in variable types.
Only integer variables may be declared
in the program. When you read through
all the fine print, however, you learn that
these “integer” variables can be doctor¬
ed to behave like string variables when
required. Boolean variables (True/
False) are also not admissible but can
usually be replaced by integer flags.

As I noted, Tiny Pascal does not have
an integral random number generator
function. Since Nim requires random
number generation, this caused a fair
amount of head-scratching until I finally
remembered that one of the demonstra¬
tion programs that comes with HDOS
Tiny Pascal is a random number genera¬
tor. Problem solved!

The game of Nim

For those of you who may not be
familiar with the game of Nim, it is an
ancient game of numbers wherein the
players take turns removing objects
from a pile. In this program, the objects
are identified as pebbles. The player
who draws the last pebble from the pile
loses. (In some versions of the game,
there is more than one pile.) The begin¬
ning size of the pile and the maximum
quantity that can be drawn in any one
move are randomly selected for each
game.

Nim has been a computer hobbyist’s
favorite because of its mathematical
basis which is simple without being
obvious. It can be shown that there is an
ideal quantity of pebbles which should
be left in the pile after each move in
order to win. This quantity can be
expressed as

P = K(M -F 1) + 1

where P is the ideal pile quantity and M
is the maximum draw quantity. K will be
the largest integer which will result in a
P not larger than the existing pile size.
This can be used to determine the ideal

54 Sextant Spring 1982

draw with the expression

D= (N- 1) - K(M +1)
where D is the ideal draw and N is the
present pile quantity. (The program
version of this expression may be found
in the listing at the third line after the
begin statement in the computermove
procedure.)

It is the nature of this game’s
mathematics that while either player is
in the driver’s seat (that is, has just made
an optimum move), the other player is
excluded from making an optimum
move. In other words, once a winning
strategy is in process, it cannot be
terminated by the opponent. The only
way to break the winning run is for the
winning player to make a mistake. A
great game if you know the math and
your opponent doesn’t.

Writing the Nim program in Pascal

What I like about Pascal is the

modular structure. Each routine is writ¬
ten into an independent module called a
procedure. I found, to my delight, that as
each procedure was written, I was able
to run it and debug it. This meant that
when the programming was finished, a
large part of the debugging was done
too.

I looked over the BASIC version of
the game to determine what routines
should be made into procedures. This
required taking some notes and doing
some figuring on a scratch pad for a
while. Then I started writing the
program.

A few changes were made as writing
and debugging progressed, but the
program finally ended up with six
procedures. Those plus the random
function and the “main program’’ make
up the entire listing.

As you can see from the listing, the
“main program” is relatively short.

That’s another nice thing about Pascal.
If you want a quick look at what a Pascal
program is about, go to the end and read
the main program. It is most often short
and usually consists mostly of calls to
procedures. Since procedure (and
variable) names are not limited to a
couple of letters as in many BASIC
interpreters, the names can be made
meaningful.

The first procedure is called opening
and writes out the title and instructions
to the screen. If you’re wondering why
the reverse-video space areas are
broken up into short clusters, so am I! It
shouldn’t happen, but I haven’t yet
found anyone who could explain why
you can’t program fifteen consecutive
reverse video spaces in a write state¬
ment I developed this fix by trial-and-
error. The concl instruction after the
read command is used to clear the H89’s
type-ahead buffer.

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Sextant Spring, 1982 55

The two random numbers required
for this game are developed in the
initialize procedure. Unlike the ran¬
dom number generators you may have
used, this one generates only the inte¬
gers zero through nine. I elected to
develop the first random number, the
pile size, by extracting two non-zero
random numbers and adding a constant
to their product to keep the lower limit
above nineteen. The largest product of
the two integers generated is eighty-
one; adding nineteen, this produces an
upper limit of one hundred. This results
in a pile size of from twenty to one
hundred, which seemed about right to
allow both interest and workability.

The second random number, the
maximum draw, is developed in essen¬
tially the same way except that a repeat...
until... routine has been added to limit
the maximum number to fifteen, again, a
convenient number. Expert program¬
mers or mathematicians may know
better ways to accomplish these ends,
but until they are heard from, don’t fret;
this works. The next procedure, header
is the beginning display for each game
and should be self-explanatory.

Note that variables which are de¬
clared in a procedure function only in
that procedure. Variables declared at
the beginning of the program are global,
that is, operational throughout the pro¬
gram. Even if the same name is used for
variables declared in two or more
procedures, Pascal will treat them as
though they were separate variables,
each with a unique name. For instance,
when the variable response is input in
the win procedure, the content of the
response variable read earlier in the
opening procedure is not affected.

The next procedure, howmany, inputs
the player’s move and launders it. Tiny
Pascal imposes a little of its own launder¬
ing on you in the form of an error
message when it detects an alphabetic
input where it expects a numeric input.
My laundering procedure uses its own
error message to indicate invalid entries.
When a valid entry is detected, the
remainder of the screen is cleared in
preparation for the next procedure.

You’ll find some of my personal
idiosyncrasies sprinkled about. I like to
ring bells on game program keyboard
inputs (in case the player has fallen
asleep). I don’t like having computers
spew masses of information at me too
quickly on the screen.To remedy this,
you’ll see pause statements in appro¬
priate places. Hunting around the
screen for key information is annoying,
so I use reverse-video to highlight data I
consider important.

The fourth procedure is called
COMPUTERMOVE. The first two lines do
the arithmetic to determine the opti¬
mum move. If the player has just made
an optimum move, the computer’s
optimum move will evaluate to zero.

When this happens, the computer picks
a move at random. The random routine
is like those previously used.The ran¬
dom number limits are from one to the
maximum draw quantity or to the pile
quantity, whichever is less. After deter¬
mining and announcing its move, the
computer checks to see if the player has
won and, if so, sets the playerwin flag
accordingly.

The last two procedures are called
win and lose respectively. These are
used simply to announce the results of
the preceding game.Both procedures
also query the player about a replay and
set the replay flag accordingly. These
global flag variables which I’ve been
setting in some of the procedures, but
taking no other action on, will be used in
the Main Program to control the order in
which program statements are executed.

The main program begins by calling
the opening procedure. Following that,
it goes into the primary game loop using
the repeat...until... function. Nested in
the primary loop is a secondary loop
which checks for a win after each round
of play. When the player declines a
replay, Tiny Pascal provides a graceful
exit to HDOS.

Note that comments are written
throughout the program. Pascal encour¬
ages it. Unlike BASIC, however, the
comments do not wind up in the operat¬
ing program taking up lots of memory.
The compiler ignores them so your
executable program contains no space-
and time-consuming overhead. The
commentary stays with the source list¬
ing to remind you, six months or a year
from now, what you had in mind when
you wrote it.

Is Tiny Pascal for you?

There is no doubt in my mind that my
Nim program is subject to much im¬
provement. (It was, after all, my first
attempt in a new language.) My purpose

in writing it was not to show you what a
spiffy programmer I am, but rather to
share with you some of the apprehen¬
sions and the fun I have had trying out
Tiny Pascal. Earlier, when I said Tiny
Pascal was an alternative to the full¬
blown version, I left something out. I
should have told you it is an inexpensive
alternative. The up front cost for all this
fun and education is just $20! If you’re
becoming interested, join the fun; order
yourself part number 885-1086 from
HUG.

Is Tiny Pascal a programming lan¬
guage you can live with? I guess it
depends a lot on what you want to
accomplish in the long run. The ease
with which the Nim program was gener¬
ated suggests that HDOS Tiny Pascal is
powerful enough to satisfy many pro¬
gramming needs. On the other hand, if
you find that Tiny Pascal has just
whetted your appetite for more and
bigger things, you may find it to be an
introduction and a bridge to a full-blown
Pascal compiler.

As for me, I’m finding myself edging
towards the latter group. Tiny Pascal has
brought me so much enjoyment that I’m
beginning to think that three hundred
smackers for HDOS UCSD Pascal isn’t
really all that bad after all!

References

Pascal Users’ Manual and Report
by Kathleen Jensen and Niklaus Wirth
Copyright 1974

Springer-Verlag, New York, NY
Pascal Primer

by David Fox and Mitchell Waite
Copyright 1981

Howard W. Sams, Indianapolis, IN

A Practical Introduction to Pascal
by I.R. Wilson and A.M. Addyman
Springer-Verlag, New York, NY

Information for Ordering Pascal

Tiny Pascal H8/H89 Part Number 885-1086 $20 from HUG

Purchases of HUG software require HUG membership and 10% shipping charge.

Heath Users’ Group

Hilltop Road

St. Joseph, MI 49085

U.S.

Canada and

Domestic

Mexico

International

Initial Membership Fee

$18

$20

U.S. Funds

$28

Renewal

$15

$17

U.S. Funds

$22

UCSD P-System with Pascal

$295

shipping

$2.03 to $5.55

Requires an H8/H19, HI 1A, or H/Z89 system with 48K bytes RAM and two disk
drives. (HOS-817-3 requires and supports only two hard-sectored 5.25" disk drives.)
HOS-817-3 (hard-sectored 5.25" disk for H8/H19 and H/Z89)

HOS-1127-3 (soft-sectored 8" disk for H-11A/H19/H27)

Heath Company

Benton Harbor, MI 49022 _

56 Sextant Spring 1982

The Nim program

(PROGRAM NIM)

{Arnold R. Madeira 5
(72 Locust Glen Drive)
(Cranston, RI @2920)

VAR PLAYERWIN, COMPUWIN, PILE,

DRAW, GAME, REPLAY : INTEGER; (global variables)

FUNG RANDOM; (random number generator)

CONST

TICCNT = 8219; !PAM8 CLOCK — USED AS SEED!

VAR

DIGIT, RND : INTEGER;

BEGIN

RND:=MEM C TICCNT); (get seed)

IF RNB=@ THEN RND:=1; (prevent possible crash)

DIGIT:=(RND+7*(RND DIV 10)+7*(RND DIV 1000)) MOD 10;

RND:=10*(RND DIV 1@@0)+DIGIT; (confusion factor)

RANDOM:=DIGIT
END; (RANDOM)

PROC OPENING; (print title and instructions)

VAR RESPONSE : INTEGER;

BEGIN

WRITE (27, ’E\27,'Y">' ,27, 'p',' V V %27,'q');

WRITE (27,'Y#>',27,'p‘,' THE GAME OF \27,'q'>;

WRITE <27,'Y*>',27,'p',' V V ',27,'q'>;

WRITE (27, 'Y7.>' ,27, 'p',' ',' NIM ',27,'q');

WRITE (27,'Y&>',27,'p',' V V V \27,'q');

WRITE (27,' Y+7.',' In this game, the players take turns removing a number');
WRITE (' of pebbles', 10, ' from a pile. The object of the game is to get');
WRITE (' your opponent to remove ',10, 'the last pebble.');

WRITE (27,'Y/7.' j'The initial number of pebbles in the pile will be ');

WRITE ('selected at random.', 10, 'You may remove any number of pebbles from');
WRITE (' one to a maximum also ',10,'selected at random.');

WRITE (27,'Y53','press RETURN or ENTER to play- ');

READ (RESPONSE);

CONCL;

END; (OPENING)

Sextant Spring 1982 57

PROC INITIALIZE;

(generate pile and maximum draw quantities)

VAR A, B, C, D : INTEGER;

BEGIN

A;=RANDOM;

IF A-@ THEN A:=l;

B:“RANDOM;

IF B=0 THEN B:=l;

PILE:=A*BU9;

C:“RANDOM;

IF 0=0 THEN C:=i;

D:“RANDOM;

IF D=0 THEN D:=1;

DRAW:=C*D+5;

REPEAT

IF DRAW>15 THEN DRAW:“DRAW-10
UNTIL DRAW<16;

END; UNITIALIZE}

(generate pile size factor #1)

{generate pile size factor #2)

{develop pile size; from 20 to 81)
{maximum draw factor #1)

(maximum draw factor #2)

(develop max draw; from 5 to 81)

(restrict entry range to 5-15)

PROG HEADER; (print game header)

BEGIN

WRITE (27, 'E',27,'Y”V ); (clear screen, address cursor)

WRITE ('In this round, you can take away any number of pebbles ');

WRITE (27, -'p V from 1 to ' ,DRAW#, '.',27, ’q', 10,10, ' The initial number •')
WRITE (‘of pebbles in the pile is ' , 27, ' p',PILE#, 27, ' q' >;

WRITE (1@,10, Remember.... if you remove the last pebble, you LOSE!% 10)
END; (HEADER)

PROC HOWMANY; {get player's move)

VAR PEBBLES, PEBBLEFLAG : INTEGER;

BEGIN

REPEAT

WRITE (27, ■ Y)N',27,'k', 27,' Y) t-'); (address cursor, erase rest of screen)
WRITE ('How many pebbles are you going to remove? ’,7); (ring bell)
READ (PEBBLES#);

CONCL;

IF (PEBBLES>DRAW) OR (PEBBLES>PILE) OR (PEBBLESCl)

THEN PEBBLEFLAG:=-l
ELSE PEBBLEFLAG:=+l;

IF PEBBLEFLAG=-1

THEN WRITE (27,'Y5>',27,'p',' Illegal move ',27,'q');

UNTIL PEBBLEFLAG=+1;

WRITE (27,'Y* ',27,'K'); (erase invalid input prompts)

PILE:=PILE-PEBBLES *

IF PILE=0 THEN C0MPUWIN:=+1 {if pile gone, then computer won)

ELSE C0MPUWIN:=-1;

WRITE (27,'Y+ ',27,'J');

END (HOWMANY);

PROC COMPUTERMOVE; Cget the computer's move)

VAR C, D, FACTOR, COMPMOVE : INTEGER;

58 Sextant Spring 19S2

BEGIN

PAUSE (50@);

FACTOR:=(PILE-1> DIV(DRAW+1);

COMPMOVE:=(PILE-i)-FACTOR*(DRAW*1); (calculate winning move)

IF COMPMGVE=0 THEN (if winning move not possible..)

BEGIN

REPEAT (then generate random move)

C:=RANDOM;

IF C=0 THEN C:=l;

D:=RANDOM;

IF D=0 THEN D:=l{

COMPMOVE:=C*D;

REPEAT

IF COMPMOVE>DRAW THEN COMPMOVE:=COMPMOVE-DRAW;

UNTIL COMPMOVEODRAW;

UNTIL COMPMOVE<*P I L.E;

END; (IF)

WRITE (27,'Y+$',27,'K'>;

WRITE ('I"m qoinq to remove ',COMPMOVE#,' pebble’);

IF COMPMOVE>1 THEN WRITE ('s');

PILE:=PILE-COMPMOVE;

IF PILE=0 THEN PLAYERWIN:=+l (if pile gone, then player won)

ELSE PLAYERWIN:*-i;

PAUSE (50@);

WRITE (27, 'Y-*', 'The new total is ',27,'Y-5',27,'K',27,'p',PILE#,27,'q'>;
PAUSE (375);

END; (COMPUTERMOVE)

PRQC WIN; (player wins)

VAR RESPONSE : INTEGER;

BEGIN

PAUSE (500);

WRITE (27, Y33', 27,' J', 27, ' p');

WRITE (' ******** you WIN!!! ******** ‘,27,'q’,7);
PAUSE (500) *

WRITE (27,’Y53-* , 'play again? (N/RETURN) ');

READ (RESPONSE);

CONCL;

RESPONSE*'N'

THEN REPLAY:—1

ELSE REPLAY:

=+i;

END;

(WIN)

PROC

LOSE;

(computer wins)

VAR

RESPONSE :

INTEGER;

BEGIN

PAUSE (500);

WRITE (27,' Y33', 27,' J', 27, ’ p' >;

WRITE (' ******** YOU LOSE!!! ******** ',27,' q’ ,7);
PAUSE (500);

WRITE (27,' Y53','play again? (N/RETURN) ');

READ (RESPONSE);

CONCL;

IF RESPONSE*'N' THEN REPLAY:=-l
ELSE REPLAY:=+i;

END; (LOSE)

Sextant Spring 1982 59

BEGIN (Ha in Prog rani 3

OPENING;

REPEAT

INITIALIZE;

HEADER;

REPEAT

HOWMANY;

IF CQMPUWIN=-1 THEN COMPUTERMOVE;

IF (PLAYERWIN=+i) OR (COMPUWIN-+1) THEN GAME:=+1
ELSE GAME;=-1;

UNTIL GAME=+1;

IF PL.AYERWIN=+1 THEN WIN

ELSE IF COMPUWIN=+l THEN LOSE;

UNTIL REPLAY=-1;

END. CNIM3

A half dozen articles in this issue were typeset
from HDOS disk files by Beeline Services, 211 E.
Allegan St., Otsego, MI 49078, 616/694-6424.
Beeline’s Walt Gillespie has been a big help in
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CIRCLE #107 ON READER SERVICE CARD

60 Sextant Spring 1982

A Parallel Interface for the ’89

— J.C. Hassall —

The digital wizards at Heath who designed the
H88/H89/Z89 seem to have been enamored of the
RS232 serial data communication protocol. With a
serial data transmission protocol, data words are
transmitted and received one bit after another,
being preceded and followed by control bits. One
byte (eight bits) may require ten or more bits for
serial transmission. In a parallel protocol, however,
each bit goes over its own line, so eight bits can be
processed in the same amount of time in which a
serial protocol processes one bit. It is intuitively
obvious that a protocol where bits are transmitted
serially is inherently slower than a parallel protocol,
where all data bits are transmitted simultaneously.

Serial data transmission has its applications,
such as interfacing to remote devices (printers,
video monitors, and so on). While interfacing
remote equipment clearly dictates a serial protocol,
however, there are numerous applications where a
parallel interface is far more desirable. Consider
the advantages of parallel interfacing for a
UVPROM (Ultra Violet Eraseable, Programmable
Read Only Memory) programmer; or a multi¬
plexed seven-segment display for alphanumerics
which reads like a ticker tape display; or a music
generator using the General Instruments AY-3-
8910 integrated circuit; or a myriad of other
applications. I have designed all of these items and
have interfaced them to an H89. Using a parallel
interface was easier with these projects than using
a serial interface (in the case of the multiplexed
display, it was necessary, due to the high data
transmission rates involved). Until recently, how¬
ever, Heath/Zenith had not seen fit to make a
parallel interface available for the H89 as they had
for the H8. The subject of this article, as you may
have guessed from the title, is a parallel interface
for the H89. The design presented here is intended
to provide a parallel interface for those H89
owners who do not have one. And, in distinction
from the Zenith version now available, it is intend¬
ed to be somewhat less expensive, on the one hand,
and to allow reprogramming of the 24 input/output
(I/O) lines, on the other. The parallel I/O portion
of the Z89-11 Multi-Mode Interface Card is
expressly designed to support the Epson MX-80

printer. Like the H8-2 “parallel” interface for the
H8, it is merely a serial interface attached to a
serial-to-parallel converter.

The design shown in this article is a combined
serial/parallel I/O board, with three parallel ports
and two serial ports (the Line Printer port at 340-
347 octal and the Data Terminal Equipment port
at 330-337 octal—both as designed by Heath for
the H88-3 three-port serial interface board).

If the H88-3 three-port serial board is already
installed in your system, the board described in this
article can still be installed, due to the modular
concept of the design; the serial portion is separate
from the parallel portion. If the H88-3 is already
installed, do not populate the serial portion of the
board with the integrated circuit (IC) chips other¬
wise indicated. Simply omit ICs 1,2,5-8 in Figure 2,
the chips in the serial portion of the design.

Since the Heath documentation very clearly
describes the design and operation of their serial
interface board, no explanation of the serial por¬
tion of this board will be presented here. Readers
who wish more information on serial communica¬
tion protocols are invited to read References 1 and
2. Reference 1 is the Electronic Industries Associa¬
tion (EIA) RS232C standard and consequently is
not light reading. Reference 2 contains an excel¬
lent overview of serial communication in general,
with specific details on RS232C and current loop
methods.

The serial portion of the design given here is a
direct replacement for the H88-3 Serial I/O Board,
less the Data Communications Equipment port
(320 octal); therefore, systems using this board will
also have software compatibility with the H88-3
board.

The three parallel ports are achieved using the
Intel Corp. 8255 Programmable Peripheral Inter¬
face (PPI). As explained below, the PPI’s 24 I/O
pins may be variously configured for direction of
data flow, handshake generation, etc.

Background on the 8255 PPI

The 8255 PPI is a general purpose program¬
mable device originally designed by Intel to inter¬
face to the 8080, its successors, and related

Sextant Spring 1982 61

BLOCK DIAGRAM

D7 THRU DO

RO
WR
AI
AO
RESET

I/O

PA7 THRU
PAO

I/O

PC7 THRU
PC4

I/O

PC3 THRU
PCO

I/O

PB7 THRU
PBO

PIN NAMES

PIN CONFIGURATION

D7-DO

DATA BUS (BI-DIRECTIONAL)

RESET

RESET INPUT

CHIP SELECT

READ INPUT

WRITE INPUT

AO - A 1

PORT ADDRESS

PA7 -PAO

PORT A (BIT)

PB7-PBO

PORT B (BIT)

PC7-PC0

PORT C (BIT)

VCC

+ 5 V

GND

PA 3

□

PA4

PA2

□

PA5

PA 1

□

PA6

PAO

PA7

□

RESET

GND

□

A 1

□

PC 7

D 3

PC6

1 1

8255A

□

PC5

PC4

□

D 6

PCO

□

D 7

PC 1

VCC

PC 2

□

PB7

PC3

□

PB6

PBO

PB 5

PB 1

□

PB4

PB2

□

PB3

Figure 1: Block diagram of the Intel 8255 PPI chip, showing the port organization and internal
bus structure.

62 Sextant Spring 1982

processors. The 8255 may be programmed in a
variety of ways, and is capable of having its operating
configuration modified by the central processing
unit (CPU) under program control. For example, a
single CPU command will define how any or all of
the 24 I/O pins are to be used, such as for input,
output, handshaking, and interrupts. The basic
organization of the 8255 is shown in Figure 1. The
modes of operation of the 8255 are as follows:

Mode 0: (Basic I/O) The 24 I/O lines are
divided into two groups of eight lines each
(ports A and B) and two groups of four lines
which together are called port C. Each
group or port may then be individually
programmed for input or output operation.
This is the simplest of the three operating
modes. The output ports are latched: they
maintain whatever state they are put in
until changed. The input ports are simply
three-state input buffers.

Mode 1: (Strobed I/O) The two ports A and
B are used in a unidirectional data flow
mode, as either input or output, in conjunc¬
tion with strobes, or “handshaking” signals.
The remaining port C is divided into port C
upper and port C lower. Ports A and B use
the upper and lower ports C to generate or
accept these strobe signals. The data are
latched for both input and output at ports A
and B.

Mode 2: (Strobed Bidirectional I/O) Port A
is used as a single bidirectional eight-bit
I/O port. Strobed data transfer is used in
Mode 2 operation; five lines of Port C
handle the bits that enable this.

In addition, irrespective of the mode of opera¬
tion, there is a bit set/reset capability for port C
which allows any one of eight output bits to be set
(logic 1) or reset (logic 0) using a single output
instruction.

The mode control word stored in a memory
register of the 8255 is used to define the operating
mode for each of the PPI ports so that the program¬
mer is not restricted to committing all of the 241/O
lines to one operating mode. For example, port A
could be assigned mode 2 operation, while port B
and the three remaining lines of port C could be
configured for either mode 0 or mode 1 operation.
For the interface discussed in this article, the 8255
PPI is configured so that its control register looks to
the CPU like an output port: the CPU sends a data
byte to that port to determine the mode configura¬
tion of the PPI.

References 3 and 4 will provide the interested
reader with additional information on the 8255.

Design background

The first step in designing a computer inter¬
face is to determine what signals are available and
what signals are required by both the computer

TRY THIS
MEMORY TEST

This is a significant test of memory capability. Jnability to
perform this simple test will restrict the application of your
computer in several important areas. Trionyx Electronics,
Inc. and other manufacturers are developing a number of
new products for the H8* computer and it is important that
they be supported by properly working memory.

1) Boot HDOS - Get System Prompt.

2) Reset the Computer. Simultaneously depress the
0 and RST keys on the H8 front panel. Hold for
10 to 15 seconds.

The CPy board must remain reset throughout this
period. This simulates a HOLD command on the
computer bus.

3) Load the Program Counter (PC Register) with 040
100 (warm boot).

4) Push GO. The system should automatically return
to HDOS.

Any well designed computer memory will pass this test.
Both Heath and Trionyx memory boards for the H8 computer
will pass this test using the Heath 8080A CPU board.

* H8 is a registered trademark of the Heath Company

— TRIONYX
ELECTRONICS

BOX 5131-C, SANTA ANA, CA 92704

VB VOICE
SYIMTHESIZER

MI-8

822 E.COUNTY Rd.30
FT. COLLINS, CO. 80525

i demo/d iagnostii

CHECK C.QD.

(303) 6 69-41 1 6

i parallel
Lhs SHIPPED I

STUCK IN 4b KOUnS I

:1/ZU9 computer.

Sextant Spring 1982 63

Index to Advertisers

Reader

Service Number Page Number

109

Evryware

126

MLM Associates

“Invasion”, “Missile Control”,

Morse code programs and file

“Y-Wing Fighter”, and “Galac¬

management program.

122

Apogee Software

tic Warrior” games for HDOS

115

MPI

CP/M and HDOS programs:

and CP/M.

Printers for Heath®/Zenith

“UNERASE”, “STATPATCH”,

108

FBE Research Company, Inc.

systems.

“MAZERACE”

H/Z89 parallel printer inter¬

113

Newline Software

117

Audionics Systems Corporation

faces with software support.

Video Scribe Text Editor,

Peripherals, accessories, and

102

Jay H. Gold, M.D.

Video Artist Plus, H25/Z25

supplies for Heath®/Zenith

Home finance system for

Graphics Generator, Touch

systems. Dealer inquiries in¬

HDOS Microsoft BASIC.

Typist and Tour-700.

vited in Texas and Oklahoma.

Heath Users’ Group

120

The PC&J Graphics Co., Inc.

124

Beeline Services

Software for cassette, HT-11,

Nylon ribbons for H-14. Pro¬

“Paper Porter” for tractor-feed

HDOS, and CP/M. Also

gramming aids.

printers; programming aids.

REMark.

123

Steven Robbins

Beggs Engineering

127

Hilgraeve Inc.

“Edit 19”, “Submit” and

“Circuit” and “Pulse”, engi¬

“Access” CP/M software for

“Time” programs for HDOS.

neering software. Also “Stamps”

communication with remote

114

Sandia Computer Products Co.

for stamp collecting.

computers.

“The Entertainer”, a color

116

Buss

121

Hoyle & Hoyle Software

graphics/sound board for

Independent Newsletter cover¬

“A Remarkable Experience”,

H89/Z89.

ing Heath®/Zenith computers

“A Galactic Experience” and

Sextant

and independent support.

“Steer Kleer” games for

Magazine for users of com¬

118

C. D. R. Systems, Inc.

HDOS.

puters from Zenith Radio

Disk controller for H/Z89 sup¬

106

The Keyboard Studio

Corporation.

ports 8" and 5.25" drives.

Tandon disk drives, controllers

128

Sigmasoft and Systems

110

Commsoft

for H8 and H89, MPI printer,

SigmaSound™ board, sound

Ham radio programs, a gene¬

ZDS hardware and software.

and joysticks for H89.

alogy program and hardware

119

Lindley Systems

111

Software Support

interface for ham stations.

MX Printer Driver, Ticker

Disk drives.

101

Data Compass

opp 1

Tape Program, Heath®/Zenith

103

The Software Toolworks

Mass Storage “intelligent”

graphics for Epson, Check

20 software products including

single or dual drive 8" flexible

Master.

“Spell”, a spelling proofreader.

disk systems.

105

Magnolia Microsystems

112

Sunflower Software, Inc.

129

D-G Electronic Developments

H/Z89 Double Density Disk

Programs for word processing,

Co.

Controller, CP/M Disk

education, data management;

HDOS software. H8 hardware

Subsystems.

compilers/translators, utilities

includes RAM, Z80 CPU.

107

Mako Data Products

and applications.

Dr. Dobb’s Journal

H8 & H89 sound board, unit

104

T & E associates Inc.

Monthly magazine for users of

conversion software, and H8

“Multi-print” spooler, “Maxi¬

small computer systems.

Double-Density Disk

print” HDOS drivers.

125

Environmental Control Systems

Controller.

Trionyx Electronics

Clock/calendar and parallel

MI-8

H8 hardware includes RAM,

I/O for H/Z89, H8.

V8 voice synthesizer, model II.

Z80 CPU, motherboard.

Please refer to the key below when completing the article evaluation
form on the attached Reader Service Card. By letting us know how
interesting and/or helpful you found each feature in this issue of
SEXTANT,you will help us to choose the best articles for you in the
future.

1. John Walker and David Johnstone, Heath/Zenith Computers: An Interview and Overview

2. Hugh Kenner, A Professional Writer Looks at Budget Word Processing

3. F. X. Skip Millor, How to Turn Zenith Screen Graphics into Color Slides

4. Raymond Dotson, Benton Harbor BASIC Tests Typing Reaction Time

5. Kenneth A. Patrick, Print Spoolers

6. Arthur A. Frost, Rubik’s Cube: A Computer Simulation in Microsoft BASIC

7. Richard E. Smith, Disk Programming Without HDOS

8. Arnold R. Madeira, A Candid Look at Tiny Pascal

9. J. C. Hassall, A Parallel Interface for the ’89

10. Jerry K. Pearlman, What s a Company Like Zenith Doing in the Computer Business?

64 Sextant Spring 1982

Keaae, Serv.ee

'ease answer the following questions to help us mahe Sextant
-en better for Y 0 ^; do you own/use?

Which microcomputer ao y

H 8

H89

Other:

□ Z89

□ H 88

□ ET-3400

101 102 103 104 105
106 107 108 109 110
111 112 113 114 ll 5
116 117 118 119 120
121 122 123 124 125

facing this card. 8 9 10

‘ Q Q □ Excellent

□ □ □ Good

□ Q □ Fair
q Q □ Poor

□

3 4
□ □
□ □
□ □
□ □

□

Which of the following do you use?

rnmments:

I 5 V 4 " disk
1 8 " disk
] Hard disk
1 Other:

D CP/M

□ HDOS

□ HT-11

How did you obtain this copy

of S extant?

1 Subscription

| Retail store
1 Friend
1 Other:

p.K SEXTAN T

Washington, D.C. 20003

and the interface, and the timing relationships of
all of the signals. Another consideration is interac¬
tion with the operating system; early in the design
process, we must decide whether to design an
interrupt-driven interface or a polled interface,
and whether a memory-mapped or I/O-mapped
port is more suitable. In the present case, I felt that
interaction with the Heath Disk Operating System
(HDOS) would be easiest with a polled interface
using an I/O-mapped port. Not only did I decide to
use an I/O-mapped port, but, due to the peculari-
ties of port decoding on the H89 bus, I chose to use
an existing (already decoded) port.

The second step is to develop the design,
taking into consideration the above constraints.

Access to the system bus is required to incor¬
porate an interface of this nature. The H89 has two
separate buses: the “left-side” bus and the “right-
side” bus. The “left-side” bus seems to have been
designed for memory-related expansions to the
system, since no I/O signals are available there.
Conversely, the “right-side” bus seems to have
been designed for I/O-related expansions. That is
not to say that an I/O interface could not be
designed to work on the “left-side” bus—the FBE
Research interface for the Centronics 737-1
printer is an excellent example of a well-designed
I/O interface adaptable to either bus (FBE Re¬
search Company, Inc., P.O. Box 68234, Seattle,
WA 98168).

Signals from the computer

At first glance, the signals available to us are
almost overwhelming. Not only are there a lot of
signal lines drawn on the H89’s schematic diagram
(part one of three), but they seem to have unintel¬
ligible names.

Concentrating on the serial interface sche¬
matic, it can be seen that there are basically three
types of signals shown, in addition to the power
lines. The first two, lines which have a logic level
associated with them, are shown with either an H”
or “L” suffix. The true, or active, logic level
associated with that line is represented as either H
(high) or L (low). In other words, any line with the
suffix H is active, or logical true, when it is high, or
at a voltage level of +5 volts. The third type, signal
lines with no suffix, are not static signal lines, but
rather dynamic lines (e.g., the 1.8432 MHz system
clock line). These lines may or may not represent
timing constraints to the design. In our case, we
need not worry about dynamic lines (i.e., the
system clock line), as there are no dynamic signals
required.

The left-most portion of the signal name signi¬
fies the generic type of signal. A line preceded with
a “D” is a data line; “BA” means Board Address;
“IO SERL” means I/O Serial; “IO LP” means I/O
for the line printer port; and “INT” means Interrupt.
(We will not be concerned about the interrupt

lines here, since the 8255 portion of our interface
supports polled, rather than interrupt-driven, 1/O.)

RESET H is the line for the system reset
function, “BRD L” is the Board Read line, and
“BWR L” is the Board Write line. Some of the logic
suffixes are preceded by a number, such as “INT
3L”. The number tells us which signal line of many
of the same type we are dealing with. For example,
INT 3L is the third interrupt. Similarly, IO SERL
OL is the “zeroth” I/O serial line, and BA OH
through 2H are the system address lines AO
through A2.

The data lines are bidirectional in that data bits
are transmitted in both directions—but not simul¬
taneously. The direction of all of the remaining
lines is onto the board except the three interrupt
lines, which leave the board.

Signals required by our interface

Before discussing the signals required by the
8255, I should explain the signal nomenclature
which we are about to see. The Institute of Elec¬
trical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has
adopted a convention which is the salvation of
writers. A signal which is active low has heretofore
been written with an overbar above the signal
name (e.g., CS). That is all well and fine until you try
to type that overbar, to say nothing of using a word
processor! My printer, a Centronics 739, supports
the overbar, but to get Zenith Electronic Typing
word processing software to recognize the overbar
is a non-trivial task. The IEEE has proposed that, in
place of the overbar for active low signals, an
asterisk (*) be typed immediately after the signal
name—simplicity itself! Thus, any signal written
with a suffix asterisk should be read as “active low.”
Referring to Figure 1, the signals required by the
8255 are as follows:

Data signals DO through D7 (in order, least
significant through most significant bits of
the eight-bit data word).

An RD° (read from the 8255) signal to take
input data from the appropriate 8255 port
and put it on the system bus.

A WR° (write to the 8255) signal to tell the
8255 to take the output data from the
system bus and handle it according to the
mode configuration previously set.

Signals AO and A1 to select one of four
ports (A, B, C, or control) either to read or
write.

A reset signal to clear all of the 8255’s
internal registers.

A chip select (CS°) signal to turn the 8255
on.

The Data Lines DO Through D7

The data lines supply data from the system data
bus or provide data to the system from the PPI. The
data pins are bidirectional (i.e., they can either
receive data from the system or transmit data to the

Sextant Spring 1982 65

P601

K DIH

£ D2H

3 D3H

£ D4H

* DSH

£ D6H

y D7H

C -

LINE PRINTER

DOH 1

-1-

1 tOH

1 D4H

~'DStH

I D6H

1 D7H ~

Baoh

^ BaIH

iA2ir

BRDL

BWRL

_IS

_JZO_LE_L_l±

L8432MHZ CLK 16

i 12

1 40

> 22

r 25

ICi

t^Tvci

1C5.

6N0

LINE PRINTER
PORTS 340/347

-I2V

33 2

32 12

L-

3V ^" in
tew*

31 5V< 9

r 1

IC6

♦5V

6N0

SO IN

CTS

DSR

DB25S

SD OUT
DTR

RSLD OUT
RSLD OUT
6N0

DATA TERMINAL
EQUIPMENT

DOH

DIH

02H

DSH

“W

b5H

T56RT"

T57R”

* 10

, 20

; 22

L_25

IC2

IC7

^OHO.

1±

DATA TERMINAL
EQUIPMENT
PORTS 330/337

“I2V-4—jr
♦5V <—i

3£

♦5V<-

1C8

-D>

QND

SD OUT

RTS

DTR

RSLD IN

DB25P

SD IN

CTS

DSR

OND

PARALLEL I/O

IC 1

8250

IC 2

8250

IC 3

8255A

IC 4

7404

IC 5

MC I489P

IC 6

MC I488P

IC 7

MC I489P

IC 8

MC I488P

GRAPHICS BY JOHN D. KIRK

DOH 34

DIH 33

D2H

D3H

D4H

D5H

D6H

D7H

AOH

AIH

RDL

WRL

RESET H 35

CS L 6

IC3

♦5<-

PORT A

7777777777.

PORT B

7777777777 . 7 .

PORT C

77777777777

DB25S

Figure 2: The circuit diagram for the serial/parallel interface. Note that the serial portion of
the interface is a direct replacement for the H88-3 three-port serial board. The parallel portion
gives the H88 and H/Z89 a much needed interfacing capability. In this figure, the 8255 PPI’s
chip select line is hardwired to the cassette port. In the printed circuit version, the chip select
line is jumper selectable for either the cassette port (370Q) or the serial 0 port (320Q).

66 Sextant Spring 1982

system, using the same set of pins). Data bits are
sent to the system when the RD° line is active, and
are received from the system when the WR° line is
active.

The Read (RD°) Signal

This signal is necessary to notify the PPI to take
data from the appropriate input port and pass the
data to the data bus. In other words, the CPU is
ready to read data from the outside world, via the
PPI.

The Write (WR°) Signal

This signal is the converse of the RD° signal, in
that the CPU will in this case write data to the
outside world via the PPI. Both the RD° and WR°
signals are active low, meaning that when the
corresponding system bus line is low, the PPI lines
will be active, and the PPI maybe either read from
or written to.

Address Lines AO and A1

Since there are four ports to be controlled by
the system bus, there must necessarily be more
than one signal to activate the appropriate port
The function of the address lines AO (the lowest
order address line on the system bus) and A1 (the
next lowest address line) is to decode, in conjunc¬
tion with the CS° signal, which port is to be
accessed for reading or writing.

The Chip Select(CS°) Signal

The CS° signal is essentially an on/off signal for
the PPI. To prevent extraneous data from being
input or output when not desired, the PPI is kept
disabled, or turned off, until the appropriate time.
The CS° signal is decoded from the system address
lines. In a system where I/O port decoding is the
prerogative of the user, a decoder would be used
on the system address lines to decode a unique
port address for the PPI. In the case of the H89,
however, we do not have the ability to assign a port
address of our choice to the PPI. We are constrain¬
ed to use an existing port address which has
already been decoded by the H89’s decoder chip
U550. The address which I chose was 320 octal
(the Data Communication Equipment address on
the H88-3 serial I/O board). To afford maximum
user flexibility, I included in the printed circuit
version the capability to use either port 320 octal or
the cassette port (370 octal).

The Reset Signal

The reset signal is used simply to clear all
registers of the PPI to a known state. This is used
primarily on power-up, but may be used at any
time. With the Heath system, the only time the
RESET line is active is at power-up or when the
system is manually reset by the shift-reset
sequence from the keyboard.

The interface design

Having established the signals available from
the system and the signals required by the inter¬
face, we are now ready to undertake step two of the

design. Since the level of the system data lines is
the same as required by the interface, the 8255
data pins may be connected directly to the system
data lines (P601 in Figure 2). Since the BRD L line
from the system is an active low I/O read line, we
can connect that line to the RD° line on the 8255;
the BWR L line performs the WR° function. BAO
and BA1 bring system address lines AO and A1 to
the PPI to decode which of the four ports is being
accessed. The system active low reset line is
inverted through IC4 to provide the reset function.
Use of a pullup resistor ensures that the line will
reach the high level when RESET L is active. The
CS° line is hardwired in Figure 2 to port 320 octal;
in the printed circuit version, the user has the
option of using port 320 octal or port 370 octal (the
cassette port), with some exceptions.

Users with the WH88-16 memory expansion
and/or the H88-7 replacement Read Only Memory
(ROM) kit installed have two options. On the one
hand, if the H47 eight-inch disk drive accessory is
not installed and is not planned to be installed,
then simply replace the U550 which came with the
H88-7 (Heath part number 444-61) with the old
U550 (part number 444-43). This change will
allow use of port 370 octal. Have no fears about
software compatibility. Since it is simply an I/O
port decoder, replacing U550 will have have
absolutely no effect on the system other than to
allow use of the cassette port and disallow use of an
H47.

Alternately,if the eight-inch drive accessory is
or will be installed, we are constrained to use only
port 320 octal,since the H47 uses port 370 octal.

The 8255 data out pins are connected to a
subminiature D socket connector (popularly
known as an “RS232C” connector). Contact 13 is
grounded; assignments for the balance of the
contacts are shown in Table 2. Contact 13 provides
ground continuity from the interface to the remote
device; +5 volts must be supplied by the remote
device.

A brief explanation of the use of A0 and A1 is in
order at this point. As seen in Figure 1, there are
four ports to be addressed in the 8255: ports A,B,C
and the control port. When a control or data byte is
sent to the PPI, a destination code must also be sent
simultaneously to specify the byte type and destin¬
ation. Address pins A0 and A1 are used for that
purpose. Table 1 shows the manner in which the
signals A0 and A1 define the destination of the
byte being sent to the PPI. These two signals do not
by themselves generate a unit device select code.
However, when used in conjunction with the CS°
signal, they not only select a particular PPI (from
among the computer’s I/O circuits), but also a
particular port within the PPI.

For the purposes of illustration, let us assume
that 320 octal is the base port address. Referring to
Table 1, it can be seen that the control port is

Sextant Spring 1982 67

addressed as 323 octal, port A is addressed as 321
octal, and so on. The software section of this article
will further illustrate port addressing.

Construction

Our parallel 1/O interface may be constructed
fairly easily, using either a wired or printed circuit
(PC) board approach. The choice is up to you.

The design prototypeis shown in Photo 1. As is
evident from the photo, the prototype was built
using the wirewrap (more precisely, the Vector
wire pencil) approach.

If the wired approach is used, testing prior to
use should ensure that there are no shorts and that
all connections have been made correctly. Visual
inspection, supplemented as necessary with con¬
tinuity testing and testing for shorts, is generally
sufficient. Testing is probably the most time
consuming aspect of a construction project, but
large dividends are paid to the person who ensures
that all connections are correct before using the
project.

If the printed circuit approach is taken (see
Photos 2 and 3 for the PC artwork), testing time is
considerably reduced in that the only testing
necessary should be to ensure that no solder
bridges have been made; a quick visual inspection
usually will suffice. Use of the component location
silkscreen shown in Photo 4 will greatly ease
locating the components on the PC board.

Most components are available from a variety
of sources. Some of the components, however, are
available only from Heath. The PC board designed
for this interface is a silk-screened, double-sided,
tin plated board with plated through holes.lt is
available from H & H Enterprises. Parts are listed
in Table 4, along with present prices. The only
component which the reader must make is the
interconnecting cable for the parallel ports. Even
so, that part is easily made as follows. Using about
ten inches of 26-conductor ribbon cable, a 26-
contact socket header connector, and a 25-socket
DB25S connector, simply attach the two connec¬
tors to the cable. Ensure that polarity of the socket
header is maintained so that the header sockets are
down, with the number one conductor on top of
the cable (most ribbon cable is either color-coded
or has a tracer on the number one conductor).
Attachment of the DB25S connector is easy if the
connector is the IDC (Insulation Displacement
Connector) type. Leave number 26 conductor
unattached at the DB25S connector.

If the hardwired approach is taken, the most
difficult aspect of construction is to correctly
locate the two bus card edge connectors P601 and
P602. The pin center-to-center distance is not an
even multiple of 0.100 inches. Since the board will
probably be constructed on perforated board with
0.100 inch hole centers, the location of P601 must
be kludged; I recommend making a jig. Epoxy a set

A0 A1 I/O Operation

0 0 DATA BUS <-> port A

1 0 DATA BUS <-> portB

0 1 DATA BUS <-> port C

1 1 DATA BUS -> control

port

Table 1: the effect of address pins A0 and A1
port selection in the PPI.

Header

8255

Pin#

Port Bit

Pin#

A 0

B 0

C 0

13 _

-r C 1 rrmnri

Vjri AIU.11U. -

A 4

B 4

C 4

—-_nn onrmopfmn.

Table 2: the pin connections for the parallel port

connector. The header pin numbers are the same

as the DB25S connector.

of single row header pins to a scrap piece of board.
After the cement has cured, cement another set of
pins (ten or so) to the board. While the epoxy is
curing, use an expansion board (e.g., the cassette
board) as ajig to locate the pins (be sure to keep the
cement off the contacts!). After the cement has
cured, you will have a jig to accurately locate the
bus edge card connectors on the serial/parallel
board. Epoxy P601 and P602 onto your hardwired
board using the jig. From there on, construction is
straightforward.

Of course, sockets should be used for all chips. I
recommend the Texas Instruments low profile
type, although any socket type should work; there

68 Sextant Spring 1982

LP:

DTE

HEADER

D&5S

HEADER

D25P

ground

—

Table 3: the wirelist for the two serial port

con-

necting cables for those who would rather make
their own cables.

is enough clearance between adjacent boards to
use the high profile type. The headers for the serial
portion should be right angle 15-pin types, while
the header for the parallel portion should be a right
angle 26-pin type. Of course the working voltage
rating of the decoupling capacitors should be at
least 15 volts, since one is used for the -12 volt
supply. The double row headers used for parallel
port chip select and interrupt level selection are
available from a variety of suppliers. The mini
jumpers used to jumper the appropriate pins
together are available from Heath (see Table 4).

When installing the two serial port connecting
cables, connect the ground lead from each cable to
a common ground point with the green ground
lead from the power supply. The best location is
under one of the connector mounting screws.

Software support

I feel that the simplest way to access the 8255
for data read or write is to include the I/O code in
the operational program, rather than access it as a
device driver. This makes it a simple matter to
reconfigure the mode control word during
program execution without having to resET a
device driver.

As explained in the Background section above,
the mode control word determines the PPI config¬
uration. Thus, the first software interfacing step is
to output the mode control word to the control port
(the base port plus 7). There is a different mode
control word for each possible configuration of the
PPI. Reference 3 contains an excellent method for
mode control word determination without having
to resort to a long table of values. Because HDOS
does not recognize the 8255 per se, all inputs and
outputs must be handled explicitly in the program,
rather than via system calls.

Listing 1 shows a brief demonstration program
in assembly language; it simply toggles each bit of
all three output ports. The CPU A register is used as
a counter to count from 000 to 377 (octal). Each
count is displayed so that bits 0 (least significant
bit) through 7 (most significant bit) are toggled at
half the rate of the preceeding bit. The delay loop
slows the count loop so that the ascending bit
pattern may be seen, either on an oscilloscope or
on a set of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), If LEDs

Photo 1: The design prototype. Note especially the configuration of the parallel interconnect
cable on the left. The serial ports interconnect cable on the right is a special configuration for
the prototype and bears no resemblance to the version required by the printed circuit artwork.

Sextant Spring 1982 69

are used, they must be buffered from the 8255 by
7404 inverters because the 8255 cannot draw
enough current to drive the LEDs.

Listing 2 shows essentially the same demon¬
stration program, written in Microsoft BASIC this
time. To aid in direct comparison between the two
programs, the BASIC program is structured the
same as the assembly language program; it
demonstrates how easily the PPI maybe interfaced

via BASIC.

Both programs use only the output mode for
the PPI; the input mode is just as easy to access. A
colleague is using the prototype of the interface
discussed here to interrogate his Heathkit weather
station for outside temperature. It also accesses an
interior temperature converter for household
temperature. He then prints to the printer and to a
disk file in hourly increments the time, the outside

70 Sextant Spring 1982

temperature, and the thermal gradient for a home
heat efficiency study he is doing.

Summary

The foregoing design will add to any H88 or
H/Z89 a much-needed parallel I/O capability with
no sacrifice in software compatibility and little or
no modification to the system. With the inclusion
of a parallel interface capability, the computers

have limitless vistas for interfacing a variety of
devices. The computers can talk to weather station
kits, music boards, home control devices, or can
even have voice synthesis capabilities for talking
programs! By virtue of the modular design, if the
Heath H88-3 serial interface board has already
been installed, the present design can still be
installed in the system by not populating the serial
portion of the board.

Sextant Spring 1982 71

References

1. Electronic Industries Association (EIA), "Stand¬
ard RS232C: Interface Between Data Terminal
Equipment and Data Communication Equipment
Employing Serial Binary Data Interchange”,
Washington, D.C.

2. P.R. Rony, D.G. Larsen, J.A. Titus and C.A.
Titus, Interfacing and Scientific Data Communica¬
tions Experiments , The Blacksburg Continuing

Education Series, Howard W. Sams and Co., Inc.,
Indianapolis, IN

3. P.F. Goldsborough, Microcomputer Interfacing
With the 8255 PPI Chip , The Blacksburg Continu¬
ing Education Series, Howard W. Sams and Co.,
Inc., Indianapolis, IN

4. Intel Corp., Peripheral Design Handbook , Santa
Clara, CA

RO. DRAWER H
BLACKSBURG VA 24060

Photo 4: The printed circuit board component location guide.

72 Sextant Spring 1982

TITLE

'PARALLEL PORT

DEMO PROGRAM'

ORG

042200A

BASPRT

EQU

320Q

Base port is the SERL 0 port (320Q)

CNTLPRT

EQU

BASPRT+7

Control port is base port+7

CNTLWRD

EQU

10000000B

Control word to establish all ports as output

PORTA

EQU

BASPRT+0

Port A is base port+0

PORTB

EQU

BASPRT+1

Port B is base port+1

PORTC

EQU

BASPRT+2

Port C is base port+2

DELCNST

EQU

2000A

Delay constant to allow bits to

be seen

$TYPTX

EQU

31136A

Text typer in H17 ROM

EQU

012Q

New line character

.EXIT

EQU

Exit to HDOS

.SCIN

EQU

Console character read

.CLRCO

EQU

Clear console buffer

ESC

EQU

ASCII escape code

BEGIN

MV I

A,CNTLWRD

Load 'A' w/control word

OUT

CNTLPRT

Output it to the control port

CALL

$TYPTX

Print description message

ESC,'E'

Clear the screen

'This demo program will cause the bits in ports

C, B, and A'

' in sequence,

' , NL

'to toggle. Just before a given port is activated,'

' you will be

prompted to',NL

'press RETURN

to acknowledge that you are ready.

',NL+200Q

MV I

B,PORTC+1

Load 'B' w/addr for port C+l

LOOP

DCR

Adjust to proper port number

MOV

A,B

Put in 'A'

STA

OUTPUT+1

Put into memory where port addr

expected

CALL

$TYPTX

Print acknowledge message

NL,'Press RETURN to continu','e'+200Q

SCALL

.CLRCO

Clear console buffer to prevent

type ahead

WAIT

SCALL

.SCIN

Look for 'ready' acknowledgement

WAIT

Not ready yet

SUB

Clear 'A' to all 0's

DISPLAY

INR

Increment 'A* by 1

OUTPUT

OUT

000

Display

PUSH

PSW

Put 'A* onto stack

LX I

H,DELCNST

Load 'H&L' w/delay constant

DELAY

DCX

Decrement 'H&L* by 1

MOV

A, L

Get 'L' into 'A'

ORA

Logical OR 'H* w/L

JNZ

DELAY

Not zero, so continue to delay

POP

PSW

Finished delaying, so get 'A'

ANA

Is the count all the way to 000

yet?

JNZ

DISPLAY

No, so keep on looping

MOV

A,B

Put 'B' into 'A'

AN I

003

Last three bits 0?

JNZ

LOOP

No, so not yet finished

CALL

$TYPTX

Print 'finished' message

NL,NL,NL,'FINISHED',NL+200Q

SUB

Setup 'A' to

SCALL

.EXIT

exit to HDOS

END

BEGIN

Listing 1: An assembly language program which will toggle each bit in ports C, B, and A in
sequence.

Sextant Spring 1982 73

10 **************************************************************************
20 '*** This program is a Microsoft BASIC demo for the parallel ports ***

30 **************************************************************************

40 1

50 BP=&0370 'base port is 370Q (cassette port)

60 CW=&0200 'control word = 10000000B

70 OUT BP+7,CW 'initialize PPI for all ports output

80 PRINT CHR$(27)+"E" 'clear the screen

90 PRINT"This demo program will cause the bits in Ports C, B and A f in "@
"sequence, "

100 PRINT"to toggle. Just before a given port is activated, you will be "@
"prompted to"

110 PRINT"press RETURN to acknowledge that you are ready."

120 PN=&0372 'port numbers: A->370Q B->371Q C->372Q

130 PRINT: PRINT: PRINT"Press RETURN to continue":LINEINPUT A$

140 FOR 1=0 TO 255 'counter for the display

150 OUT PN,I 'display bits

160 FOR J=1 TO 2: NEXT 'dummy delay loop
170 NEXT

180 IF PN=&0370 THEN 210 'finished, because port A has been displayed
190 PN=PN-1 'not finished yet, so decrement port addr and loop

200 GOTO 130

210 PRINT: PRINT: PRINT "Finished"

220 END

Listing 2: A Microsoft BASIC program to accomplish the same function as the assembly
language program in Listing 1. The structure follows the same sequence as in Listing 1.

Qty

Vendor

Part No.

Description

Price

req’d

Heath

134-1073

Serial port cable for the LP: port

$ 7.70

Heath

134-1070

Serial port cable for the DTE port

7.45

Heath

432-1076

25-pin bus connector

4.30

Heath

432-1074

10-pin bus connector

2.15

Heath

432-1041

Mini juniper for interrupt/chip select

0.90

Jade

APP-929835-01

36-post single row right angle header

1.28

Jade

APP-929838-01

36-post double row right angle header

2.99

Jade

APP-929836-01

36-post double row straight header for
interrupt/chip select

2.29

APP-924013-36

26-wire ribbon cable w/socket connector

7.20

Jade

CND-5251

DB25S IDC connector for parallel ports

6.25

Jade

SKL-1401

14-pin low profile sockets

0.17

Jade

SKL-4001

40-pin low profile sockets

0.45

H&H

1222

Parallel interface printed circuit board

45.00

H&H Enterprises

P.O. Drawer H

Blacksburg, VA 24060

Heath Company

Parts Department

Benton Harbor, MI 49022

Jade Computer Products

4901 West Rosecrans Avenue
Hawthorne, CA 90250

Table 4: a list of possible sources for the various components required, along with quantity required
and price.

74 Sextant Spring 1982

What’s a Company Like

TfMiTH

Doing in the Computer Business?

— Jerry K. Pearlman—

Mr. Pearlman s comments were given last May at
the 1981 Rosen Research Personal Computer
Forum. They are reprinted with permission from
The Rosen Electronics Letter. (Rosen Research,
Inc., 200 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10166,
212/586-3530; subscriptions, $345 per year.)

There are three different types of companies
represented at this Forum that are participants in
the personal computer industry. First are the new
companies focused almost exclusively on the per¬
sonal computer industry. Second are the estab¬
lished computer companies that are now targeting
a portion of their activity toward the personal
computer end of the spectrum. And third are the
established companies that are new to the com¬
puter business. As a representative of a relatively
large sized company in this last segment, I have
agreed with Ben to try and give you some thoughts
as to why the non-computer corporations are now
and will be entering the personal computer busi¬
ness.

I suggest that there are two principal reasons.
The first reason is to bask in the reflected light of
the high-technology boom, preferably with that
reflected light coming from heat generated by the
stock market. The second, and hopefully more
significant reason, is that entry into the personal
computer business represents a logical outgrowth
of a corporate planning process that seeks to
deploy corporate resource strengths into businesses
that can benefit from and add to those very same
strengths.

To corporations not yet in the personal com¬
puter business (which seems to me to be a minority
of those listed on the New York Stock Exchange)
and who are now interested in the high-tech
association, I offer some totally unsolicited advice.
Save all the hard work that starting a new business
entails and simply change the name of your corpo¬
ration. I have given this a lot of thought and think
that the ideal name to change to is International
Genetic CAD/CAM Computer and Cable Televi¬
sion Unlimited.

Because most of the established corporations
entering the personal computer business seem to

be bringing real products to the marketplace, let
me suggest to you that they must have identified a
number of specific skills and resources that they
believe are important to this emerging product.
These skills and resources are centered principally
in three areas: marketing, engineering and pro¬
duction. While it is my intention to discuss the
general planning process that has been undertaken
by many corporations, it is easiest to give you some
examples from our own experience at Zenith.

Marketing Resources

First let me review the type of marketing strengths
that a non-computer company may believe that it
can bring to the marketplace. Four entered into
our thinking. I am sure that they entered into the
think ing of many of the other new entries into the
business. These marketing strengths are the fol- ,
lowing:

1. Product overlap with existing non-computer

products

2. Brand identification

3. Distribution patterns and organizations

4. National and international service support

I shall discuss each factor briefly, starting with
two together—product overlap and consumer brand
identification. As the non-computer companies have
reviewed their marketing strategies, they have
identified many separate and sometimes overlap¬
ping markets for computer products. Each of these
markets may attract companies who see a product
fit with their existing businesses. Once they enter
the business to attack the particular segment where
they saw the fit, however, only some will stay
within that segment. Many others will branch out
into related computer products.

At Zenith we identified two separate product
areas where computer products could be an impor¬
tant part of our already-existing long-term product
marketing strategy. The first was personal com¬
puters to be used in the home. We have believed
that our product charter is, “If it plugs into the wall
in your house and is essentially electronic, Zenith
should consider making it, and there should be a
big Z on the top.” We are pleased to confirm that

Sextant Spring 1982 75

there is also a very substantial hobbyist market in
the home, and there, for brand identification pur¬
poses, the big Z should give way to the brand
“Heathkit.”

A second product area where computer product
capability fits with established Zenith product
planning, and where other current hardware man¬
ufacturers may be contemplating entering the
computer business, is the cable TV and telecom¬
munications hardware business. Today’s maker of
cable TV converters or telephone equipment or
television sets is already dealing with one-way, and
in many instances, two-way data communications.
In-home data processing and storage can be logical
product additions to communications hardware
product lines. For example, the teletext decoders
we are currently manufacturing and delivering,
and the two-way cable TV decoders we have
contracted to start delivering in late summer,
represent two different product areas that will
bring more and more computers into the home
throughout the 1980s.

Just think of the number of existing corpora¬
tions already marketing products in this area that
may conclude that it is logical to expand into the
personal computer marketplace.

• Telecommunications companies, worldwide

• Cable TV hardware companies, from micro-
wave and dish makers to builders of hard¬
ware on the pole

• Security firms and database operators—the
providers of services that enter the home by
cable or phone and need special hardware

• National service companies from Sears to
TRW to Electrohome which see their existing
business as already involving them with home
and office electronics

A potential product fit in the home is not the
only area of interest to corporate planners not
presently in the personal computer business. Many
companies will find a product fit with established
lines of business products, educational products,
and large-scale computer peripheral products. (The
NCC show brought us new personal computer
entries from at least two more terminal manufac¬
turers, for example.)

In addition to product and brand considerations
for market entry, I mentioned distribution and
service considerations. Some established compa¬
nies will conclude that their distribution strengths
in such diverse fields as toys, office products (from
forms to furniture to copiers), or in education (from
publishing to projectors), make the addition of
computer products to the product line a very
logical planning step.

Once they have entered any niche of the
personal computer market, it is unlikely that they
will remain in that niche only. Our experience at
Zenith is a case in point. With an initial entry into
the hobby segment of the market, it was easy to

migrate to the small business segment because the
same core microprocessor product (the hardware)
was very suitable as a business machine, and also
because the Zenith brand, ability to build reliable
products, and ability to draw on the existing
network of 17,000 Zenith sevicemen and national
service training facilities, all represented strengths
in the business niche of the market.

Going hand-in-glove with planning for partici¬
pation in the right niches is planning to stay out of
niches whre you don’t bring major strengths to the
market. In our case, for example, we leave the
integrated office of the future to IBM, Xerox,
Wang and 4,000 others.

Engineering Resources

Engineering resources are the second major
area that may bring established corporations into
the personal computer marketplace. This appears
to be the digital decade. In washing machines,
ovens, cars, paint mixers, everywhere you look,
the microprocessor is there. Many companies may
decide that it is a small step from designing
microprocessors into their products to desig nin g a
microprocessor product. Of course they are likely
to be wrong, but a lot of them won’t believe that
until they actually try it. On the other hand, a lot of
technologies of other products may, in fact, be
transferable into the personal computer business.
Why shouldn’t a video tape recorder producer, for
example, be able to design and build a floppy or
hard disk product with relative ease? They have
been dealing with related mechanical and media
problems for years.

One of the critical questions that corporate
planners are considering in looking at their skills is,
“What will constitute the major areas of ‘value
added’ in the personal computer business in the
years to come?” These are the areas where engi¬
neering skills must be applied. For example, will
the 1985 personal computer have more value
added in the high-resolution color television moni¬
tor than in the semiconductors? Will the software
investment per machine exceed the investment in
storage per machine? Will the keyboard manufac¬
turers of today be the personal computer manufac¬
turers of 1985? At Zenith, with engineering
resources in microprocessor-based televisions and
decoders, analog displays, color picture tubes, power
supplies, and plastic cabinet molding, as well as in
the writing of business-oriented software, we believe
we have the principal elements of engineering
value-added covered for the next decade.

If the value-added swings strongly to software
in the future, it may cause the entry into the
marketplace of companies presently engaged in
publishing and educational writing as well as those
with expertise in software development for large
machines. Thoughts like these cause me to sleep
better at night, knowing that RCA sold Random

76 Sextant Spring 1982

House while Zenith still has its Heath educational
courseware development group.

Manufacturing Resources

The third major resource area that the corpo¬
rate planners are reviewing is manufacturing. There
are some corporations whose principal resource is
their manufacturing skill. The prime example is
the stereotype of the Hong Kong copy house that
moved from radios to black-and-white television
sets to cassette recorders. Some of them will
certainly enter the market with plug-compatible,
private-label personal computers for the mass
marketers.

The personal computer industry of today has a
relatively high requirement for technical skills in
hardware and software design. As the industry
volume of personal computers grows, and as the
rate of product change moderates, manufacturing
skills will assume a more prominent position in the
hierarchy. Then, companies with printed board
manufacturing facilities in low-labor areas of the
world will be increasingly drawn toward the com¬
puter business. The Taiwan, Korean, and Singapore
black-and-white television makers of yesterday
and today are already becoming the computer
terminal makers of today and tomorrow. As de¬
sign, features, software, and service give way to
price, as they will in some segments of the market,
they can be expected to become personal com¬
puter makers in the future.

There is one more major corporate resource
area that may bring some non-computer compa¬
nies into the business. That is the possession of a
large amount of cash. Without a good marketing or
engineering fit, the possession of cash alone would
seem to be a shaky reason for jumping into the
computer business. On the other hand, corporate
planners are a free thinking lot. How else could
one explain large energy companies choosing chain
retailing and office automation?

In summary, I can see a lot of reasons why
corporate strategic planners, in reviewing their
own company’s strengths, may very well conclude
that the personal computer industry is right for
them. I expect to see many more entries. Which
ones should be expected to succeed? Well, of
course, there are no hard and fast ways to project
the future. I do think, however, that the corpora¬
tion that sees a good solid fit in all three areas —
marketing, engineering and production —is more
likely to succeed than the corporation with a fit in
two areas or in only a single area. The corporation
with that fit in all three areas is most likely to be
much more commited to the plunge. Given a
random distribution of management talent and
luck, the corporation with the best fit of its corpo¬
rate resources to the demands of the computer
industry and the one with the greatest commit¬
ment to succeed should come out on top.

ACCESS is a versatile modem program written
specifically for the H/Z-89 computer. Many programs
allow your computer to act as a terminal on a remote
system — but none is as versatile or as easy to use as
ACCESS.

• Disk storage of incoming text can be toggled on and
off with a single key. No need to leave menus and
command lines embedded in the file.

• I n most cases received text can be stored to the disk
continuously.

• All parameters and options can be manipulated from
within the program -- no patching.

• Any particular configuration of options can be
named and stored on the disk for instant set-up later.

• Compatible with most modems that connect through
a standard serial port.

• Single key toggle to echo display to a printer.

• Requires a serial port and CP/M (orgO).

• Source code (in 'C' and assembler) is available.

ACCESS-$29.95
source code — add $15.00
manual only — $5.00

MasterCard and VISA welcome
Mich, residents add 4% sales tax

Hilgraeve Inc.

P.O. Box 941
Monroe, Ml 48161
(313) 243-0576

CIRCLE #127 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Sound and Joysticks for your H89

Expand the power of your H89 with the SigmaSound® board and
you'll like what you hear! Create music, gun shots, laser blasts, explo¬
sions, and fast-action arcade style games with the joystick controllers.

The SigmaSound® board features the General Instrument AY-3-8910
sound effects chip with an on-board crystal oscillator for the most
accurate reproduction of musical notes possible, and two Joystick
Controller interfaces, as well as two complete parallel ports. There are
three tone generators, each with a range of twelve octaves, and limitless
other special effects can be created with the white noise and envelope
generators.

Our new SD: device driver greatly increases the ease of programming
the SigmaSound® board under HDOS, support that is lacking with
many sound generators. This driver enables the SigmaSound® board to
play a music file which can be created with any text editor. The SD:
driver can also receive data from a program written in BASIC, or any
language that is capable of file I/O.

Installation is simple. The SigmaSound® board connects to either
P504 or P505 with NO modifying. The board comes fully assembled
and tested with complete manuals, demonstration programs, and a
schematic. Software requires HDOS Version 1.6 or 2.0 and is supplied
on a 5.25 inch disk.

SigmaSound® Board (Less Joysticks) $95.00

Joystick Controllers (Set of Two) $25.00

SD.DVD Device Driver $10.00

Arcade Games Package (Requires Joysticks) $30.00

CIRCLE #128 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Sextant Spring 1982 77

Z80 CPU BOARD for the H8'

* H8 is a Registered Trademark of the Heath Company

• Programmable Clock Rate - 2 MHZ / 4 MHZ

(Clock Rate Under Software Control)

• Front End Bus Termination Network

Fully Compatable With All Heath H8 Hardware and Software
Available In Assembled and Kit Versions

Preliminary Announcement —

MASS MEMORY for H8/H89*

* H8 & H89 are Registered Trademarks of the Heath Company

• Completely Solid State Mass Storage Unit -
Has No Moving Parts - Low Power Dissipation

• Silent Operation No Maintenance Required

• High Speed Access and Data Transfer Rate

• Expandable Memory Capacity from 128K Bytes
to 5 Megabytes

• Self Contained in Cabinet with Power Supply

Base Price under $500.00 —

Software Available For the Following Individual Applications:

1 - Floppy Disc Drive Emulator - Can Mount and Dismount Any

Floppy Disc, 5-1/4 in. or 8 in., Single or Dual Density

2 - Expanded RAM Memory - Memory Management Available for

Both Single User and Multi-User Applications

3 - Stand Alone Mass Storage Peripheral - Available with

Battery Back Up, Magnetic Tape Back Up, and ECC -
Electronic Error Checking and Correction

TRIONYX ELECTRONICS, INC.

P.O. BOX 5131, SANTA ANA, CA 92704

64K MEMORY £ H8*

* H8 is a Registered Trademark of the Heath Company

Model M-H8

• Single Card Design
Uses 4116
Dynamic
RAM

- Over 500
Sold in
First
Year!

• Sophisticated Design
Features Transparent Refresh

• Internal Refresh Clock Holds
Memory Data During Processor Halt

NEW PRICES:

Assembled -
Without

1C Sockets

Kit -

1C Sockets
Included

$ 500

$ 415

64K

440

360

48K

380

305

32K

320

250

16K

16K Memory Expansion Kit -

$ 60

(Memory Chips, Sockets, Capacitors)
Set of 8 Tested Memory Chips - $ 50

SPECIALS!

64K Kit -

Without Memory Chips
$ 225

64K Assembled -
Without Memory Chips
(Sockets Installed
for Memory Chips)

$ 300

Printed Circuit Board -
With Documentation
$ 50

Guaranteed To Work With Any Existing or New Heath H8 Products
— Upgrade Modification Instructions Will Be Issued As Required

Call or Write For Free Brochure • Call 714-830-2092 Ask For Bill Perry
Get On Our Mailing List For New H8 Product Announcements

TRIONYX ELECTRONICS, INC.

P.O. BOX 5131, SANTA ANA, CA 92704

Classified

To get in touch with your fellow Heath®/Zenith users, place
your short notice in Sextant’s classified section. The rate is only
75<P per word with a minimum of 15 words. Send your
typewritten ad and payment to: Sextant, Classified Advertising
Department, 716 E St. SE, Washington, DC 20003. (Please
include your name and telephone number for our records.) We
need to receive ads for the Summer issue by April 14, 1982. If
you have any questions, contact Pamela Juram at 202/544-2868.

Cross reference programs for C/80 and TINY
PASCAL are now available for HDOS. All
variable, function and procedure names are
included in the output. To order send $14.95
each to Interactive Micro Systems, Box 21007,
Columbus, Ohio 43221.

NEW! H89/Z89 software from The Coding
Pencil. AUTOLOGUE extends H:Boot to
mount all SY:/DK: units, load device drivers,
and display executable (ABS/BAS) files in
selection-by-menu format. Function keys are
used to execute files; alter menu; and mount,
dismount, or reset diskettes. BASIC or MBASIC
is automatically loaded prior to executing
BAS files. AUTOLOGUE can reset SY0: and
execute files from nonbootable diskettes, even
in one-drive environments. $14.95 on a 5"
diskette) $2.00 for introductory documentation
(applied toward purchase). The Coding Pen¬
cil, 4812 SE 24th, Del City, OK 73115,
405/677-7531.

MICRO MEDIA MAGAZINE, a floppy Disk-
Based Publication for the H19, H89, or Z89.
For more information and a “FREE” Soft¬
ware Catalog write: Micro Media Magazine,
Dept. SE, P.O. Box 402286, Garland, Texas
75040.

FORTRAN support for HDOS: Overlay pack¬
age, 9511 arithmetic library. MICROTRAN,
76 Flintwell Way, San Jose, CA 95138.

HELP WANTED: EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Gain Experience in periodical publishing
through close contact with many phases of
magazine and newletter production in our
small, busy office. If you type 45 wpm and
like to work hard, we can offer you a clerical
job with a difference, and an opportunity for
advancement. No smoking in the office. Con¬
tact Pamela Juram, Sextant Publishing Co.,
716 E St. SE, Washington, DC 20003,
202/544-2868.

AUTHORS:

Help Sextant become an even more valuable
tool for your fellow Heath®/Zenith computer
enthusiasts by contributing an article for pub¬
lication. Were looking for human-interest
stories, in-depth technical features, program
descriptions, product reviews and tutorials
which relate specifically to Heathkit® and
Zenith systems.

Your article in Sextant will give you the
satisfaction of knowing you’ve communicated
important information to other Heath® and
Zenith users. Your efforts will also encourage
the growth of the first independent magazine
for Heath®/Zenith systems, which are often
neglected in other publications. And, Sextant
will reward you for your research and writing
by paying you at higher rates than many
microcomputing magazines. Send your article
idea.in the form of a rough draft or outline to:
Charles Floto, Editor, Sextant, 716 E St. SE,
Washington, DC 20003.

Luminaries

William F. Buckley, Jr. is probably better
known to you as a columnist and com¬
mentator, but his interest in Hugh
Kenner’s review of word processing is
not entirely academic. At press time,
he’s in Switzerland writing his next book
using a Z89. We await with interest his
selection of a spelling correction pro¬
gram with the vocabulary he’d want.

Ray Dotson is a communications equip¬
ment retailer in North Carolina who
uses his Heathkit computer in business.
He writes software for his own and other
local businesses, as well as games like
the typing program here.

Arthur A. Frost is a retired professor of
chemistry living in Arizona. He failed to
say whether his simulation of Rubik’s
Cube was the result of purely intellec¬
tual interest or whether he, like so many
is addicted to the devious little device.

J. C. Hassall has been designing com¬

puter interfaces for some time now and
publishing many of his non-proprietary
designs. His H & H Enterprises is also
active in software and hardware inter¬
face design.

Hugh Kenner has been published in
small regional journals such as The New
York Times Book Review, Harpers , and
Bill Buckley’s National Review. When
not “hammering some fairly tough type¬
writers [now printers] into Intensive
Care”, he is a professor of English at
Johns Hopkins University.

Arnold R. Madeira, our Tiny Pascal
reviewer and Nim mathematician, is
employed by an electronic controls
manufacturer in Rhode Island. He’s an
engineering manager and also covers
their Basic Four business computer.

F. X. “Skip” Millor is relatively new to
computers. A marketing specialist, his
academic background is in photography.

He put it all together to produce some
interesting color slide graphics for a
management meeting.

Kenneth A. Patrick comes from a main¬
frame computer background. He may
find that commenting on computer
products, as in his spooler review, comes
naturally: he has his own data processing
consulting service in suburban Dallas.
Jerry K. Pearlman is Zenith’s Senior
Vice President for Finance. More im¬
portant to us, though, he’s also the
executive responsible for the Computer
Business Group which includes Heath
and ZDS.

Richard E. Smith, who programs his
H89 without HDOS, is currently work¬
ing on a graduate degree in computer
science. He’s worked several years de¬
veloping software for a variety of proj¬
ects, including operating systems, speech
recognition, and computer networks.

80 Sextant Spring 1982

Buss: The Independent Newsletter of Heath Co. Computers will supplement the information you’ve received from Sextant.
Since April 1977, Buss has been bringing Heath®/Zenith users up-to-date product news, tips from other users, and announce¬
ments from independent suppliers.

BothBwss and Sextant are valuable to you in different ways. Compare below what each offers you:

Buss

• Short, concise articles with helpful hints to apply directly to
your system.

• News received by first class mail a week after editorial dead¬
line. You get important announcements fast.

• Articles with information from over 150 different indepen¬
dent suppliers with products for Heath®/Zenith systems.

• Published 16 times each year with short bits of timely, up-to-
date information.

• A chance to communicate with over 5,000 other Heath®/
Zenith owners by sending in questions, comments, or a “for
sale” item.

Sextant

• In-depth technical articles to help you understand your com¬
puter better.

• Enough time between editorial deadlines and mail date to
publish more polished articles.

• Advertising of compatible products for Heath®/Zenith sys¬
tems from independent suppliers.

• Space to explore ideas about Heath®/Zenith computers in
four issues per year.

• Articles and tutorials dealing with both common and unusual
questions about Heathkit® computers and Zenith Data Sys¬
tem.

Be sure you’re getting all the information. Start your subscription to Buss today. A full refund is guaranteed any time you’re not
satisfied. Buss is published about every three weeks and sent by first class mail (airmail overseas). Buss comes to you from
Charles Floto, publisher of Sextant.

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The Independent Newsletter of Heath Co

.Computers

325 Pennsylvania Ave., S. E.
Washington, DC 20003
202/544-0900

CIRCLE #116 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Turn the page for highlights of available back issues...

Start your subscription to Buss: The Independent Newsletter of Heath Co. Computers with
any of the following back issues.

BUSS #26 — October 6, 1980 “Perso nal Computing '80 features HUG meetTng^l HSg parallel interface *Z89 add-ons demonstrated
•HDOS graphics editor, LISP interpreter, chess ’...and another HDOS H19 graphics editor ’HDOS and CP/M utilities ’HT-11
mailing list processor ’Stretching things a bit: H8 expansion kit ’H8 voice synthesizer ’...and a talking H8 software package
•BUSS doubles staff ’Steven Robbins on HDOS enhancements & EDIT89 ’HDOS software for business & home ’Warren Shadwick's
SYSCMD.SYS mods ’More HDOS patches ’...and two for Magnolia CP/M ’Trionyx plans Z80 CPI): cuts memory p rices ’Local
club notes ’FOR SALE ’Supplier update ’A third HDOS graphics editor tflow to tell Heath Co. what vou want ^8" floDDies and
Centronics printer on H89 ’BUSS Bits. --'

BUSS #27 — October 28, 1980 ’Gerry Kabelman gives CHUG, HD OS preview J »HDOS mailing list dat a base heads new product
list ’D. C. Shoemaker puts CP/M in perspective ’Do-it-yourself three drive H17 ’Time-shared Hll CPATCH without ID codes
•Catalog errors, Dysan diskettes; H89 notes ’John D. Lovely's H89 modifications ’Questions from Robert Sloat, K4VGlT^’Engraved
plastic labels offered ’H89 parallel output circuit ’Three HDOS packages from Jim Teixeira ’HUG experiences and H8 fixes
•Latest on lower-case output from H9 input ’FOR SALE ’Supplier update ’ Local club notes ’Diablo 1fi4fl output ’M orp HDOS
enhancements for H89s ’BUSS Bits ’Robert Kelly Rosier on HDOS patches fHowDon^

BUSS #28 — November 19, 1980 delay RF interfer ence 1 imits^’Hob, Ellerton taking over as HUG manager^}

•CP/M editor supporting H19 comes on 5.25" disk ’Suggestions from an indignanTH^^ Practical BASIC Programs

•Business software for 64K H89 with CP/M ’DBUG debugged ’40K CP/M adventure games Choose hardcoov or video output in’*
M^Si£j*...or cre ate two versions of the program ’ New version of BASIC compiler coming for 56K HDOS ’CP/M comments and
H89 modifications fT/TTnisln^^ spooler ’FOR SALE ’Local club notes ’HDOS date mod correction &

more on PATCH ’More on the HA8-3 color graphics board ’More on RFI fixes for H19/88/89 ’TI-810 help wanted ’BUSS Bits.

BUSS #29 — December 16, 1980 ’HDOS mods free user from system hassles ’Osborne business software on Heat h 5.25" disks
•HDOS MBASIC inventory system ’HDOS checkbook program supplied as object code <0m

hints ’HT- ULBASIC patches, tor Extended Arithmetic C hip *HDOS graphics & text editTng”^irograrns7^ used

with H8 f £Prob^ — H g re ij a bnjty ’H89 expansion project ’More on STAND-ALONE ’Hex

output fronTTTTR!)^^ ’FOR SALE ’BUSS Bits.

BUSS #30 — January 6, 1981 ’Alternate source for H47_8" drives ’H89 interface to Centronics 737 printer ’Astrological software
•Device driver gives hard copy of H19 display ’Three products for ET-3400/ETA-340(T~systems ’Modifying Magnolia CP/M for an
H89 with H88-7 ROM ’HCA-4 anti-glare CRT filter installation ’William LeFebvre on HDOS BASIC's FREEZE command ’Deland
C. Flodman on H8 RAM from Trionyx ’Trionyx RAM & Z80, 118 col or grap hics ’D. C. Shoemaker on the H17-3 modification
•How many tracks on a 5.25" disk? ’H77 experiences ’FOR SALE tflTl comments from”HRic^ update ’Micro

Media Magazine shows off H19 graphics ’HDOS utilities from TBT Digltin"’^ ^ & Musi c Projects ’Siebert

Ickler's H89 procedure ’HDOS coupon management system ’The Rumor Mill *fA1 Dallas on HDOS dTrectoFy^fbrmaT^Local club
notes ’BUSS Bits. ^-"-—^

BUSS #31 — January 27, 1981 ^TleatJh®^^ $95 HDOS Pascal ’HDOS software for MBASIC

or HDOS BASIC ’CP/M softwarelinBHjSir^ eases single-drive CP/M ’H89 I/O expansion kit

•HDOS "Invasion" game ’HDOS home finance system ’Heath/Zenith seen passing Commodore in 1981 sales ’New Keyboard Studio
products ’Super RTTY for HDOS ’Single voltage converter for Trionyx H8 RAM ’Roy S. Reichert's H89: "almost total silence"
•HDOS word-processing for $60 ’Osborne BASIC software on cassette and disk ’HT-11 XBASIC enhancements ’No improvement
likely in Heath® support of Hll ’CP/M master catalog program and text formatter Bob Ry an \[k es

ESCON Selectric interface ’Cooling the H17-3 ’FOR SALE ’Get 14 more sectors perHDTT^TI^^ MBASIC statistics

programs ’Osborne business software for CP/M & CBASIC 2 ’Bilofsky's MYCHESS graphics, INVADERS, CP/M versions ’Supplier
update ’Local club notes ’W. R. Leach's patches to HDOS INIT ’BUSS Bits.

BUSS #33 — March 10, 1981 ’MBASIC program generator ’HDOS enhancement from^Creative Resources ’HDOS 2.0 INIT
replacement ’Modification adds auto-repeat to H19 keyboard ’Trionyx plans new H8 motherboard ’SPOOLER review ’UCSD
Pascal li braries for H8 color graphics board ’HDOS 2 .0 notes from vviiliam N. Tavolga ’HDOS 2.0 modifications from Steven
Robbins ^ [T. Stephen"~Tinius on CP/M® file structure^ "Invaders" game supports sound generator ’HDOS MBASIC inventory program
•FOR SAfjT nr Su^^ upport for J$rlT8§, H 1 1 ’H89 disk reminder ’...Points to added value of H77 pilot light mod

•PC card for Pat Swayne's H8 Z80 mod ftlUP ^ HDOS MBASIC word processing programs ’Brief observations on CP/M

^ocaTcTub^otes^ ’Hig processor speed-up^ LFE BUGdebugged again ’FORTH for CP/M on H89 or H8/H19 ’BUSS Bits.

BUSS #34 — March 25, 1981 ’Programs convert data files between CP/M® and HDOS )’H89 board has clock, serial «Sc parallel
I/O ’HDOS proofreading aid ’HDus program steals 14 sectors from directory *h« discussion to kick off West Coast Computer
Faire ’...with Commsoft showing ROOTS89 ’...Magnolia's engineers demonstrating Z89 products ’...and others showing
Heath®/Zenith add-ons I^TTTwITFreHFrUtT^ support for HDOS ’Hulland Disk Operating System

for H8/H89 ’WH54 review^GJFTmTir^ Other HA-8-3 graphics board owners ’More patches to enhance

HDOS 2.0 likes modified HD“sysWfTr>|’Morse code practice

program fotHTnU!HWBAST(T'“ ss T!or^ on H19 ’HDOS BASIC

mechanical engineering programs ’FOR SALE ’Modified SUBMIT fix ’H8 active bus terminator ’...and a bus expansion note from
Bill Richter ’Supplier update ’Local club notes ’INIT modification correction ’BUSS Bits.

BUSS #35 — April 21, 1981 ’Special report on the Sixth West Coast Computer Faire by John Beetem ’Vendors supporting
Heath®/Zenith discuss cooperation ’Comments on H47 8" disk drive ’HDOS spooler from Software Toolworks ’Heath/TRS-80 file
exchange ’Custom HDOS printer drivers ’Two HDOS programs_from Andex Industries ’For SALE ’Doc's assembly course for
HDOS ’A bug in patches to enhance HDOS 2.0, etc. ’Interactive job utility for HDOS ’Supplier update fM'B’ASTC tTTc^
ffrrnTK) ’BUSS Bits. ~--- _

BUSS #36 — May 19, 1981 ’Conference 8 ^’"A Remarkable Experience" under HDOS for
$10 ’'Touch-Typing Tutor' fraTfr 5S XfraSoTT 4M,r ^^ MBASIC modeling and simulation package

•Plotting & digital logic analysis for HDOS MBASIC |*TTTri??nTr?nefTrr^ on converting H8

cassette software for H88 ’Patches to HDOS - pros artf± sss wrrs’ sra *1tliri!o^ repeat for H19/88/89

keyboard ’Epson MX-80 printer configuration for HDOS ’H89 sound effects board supports game paddles ’"Missile Control" game
for HDOS ’H89 controller doubles drive capacity under CP/M ’HDOS line editor uses H19 features ’Products under development
by Trionyx Electronics ’FOR SALE ’Whitesmiths C and Pascal for HT-11 ’$100 board boosts 48K H89 to 64K ’H88/H89 parallel
port/clock schematic offered ’Supplief“TrpdEle ■Graphic products frcrm Far Field Software ’BUSS Bits.

, 'JjfkL' j./uvdl'

/njUAMs

Back issues may be charged against your subscription or purchased separately for $2 each.

See subscription information on p. 81.

BUSS #38 — July 14, 1981 *17 independent suppliers preferred to HUG and Softstuff ‘Heath announces new Z-80 CPU card for
H8 computers ‘Spelling and text analysis programs under $40 ‘Prograjjjjoa&tdjg***^ for H89 and H8 ‘$25 text

editors for HDOS or CP/M ‘More on continuously running computers C*Dr. Rousseau’s ..sic Kr-M.1Z . aiDj^S u Pp1i pr update ‘Free HDOS

device driver for Paper Tiger 560 Printer ‘400 Kilobyte 5.25" drive package under $500 ‘Putting CP/M® and business hardware
in perspective ‘HDOS device driver for Magnolia disk controller ‘Text editor comments and ^ pm_offor.for Spary^h .
French, German or Italian ‘FOR SALE ‘HDOS and CP/M summaries, 64K RAM modification (‘Minimize both disk wear and head
banging^ ‘HDOS text processing & games ‘H89 screen noise fix ‘H89/H88/Z89 8" disks/controller system ‘HDOS screen image
storage & arithmetic drill programs ‘Obstacle course & "Remarkable Experience" hints ‘BUSS Bits.

BUSS #39 — August 4, 1981 ‘Isn’t it about time w e harLa magazine/? ‘XtraSofjLxetail sales sys tems <‘$45 Forth for HDOS
•Anadex printer modified for Heath/Zenith systems' t*Don Harton on "A Remarkable Experience^ HDOS~Relocating Debugging
Tool • ROOTS89 review ‘Supplier update ‘FOR SALE •TARCO wares include hard disk with n4T-like 8" disk ‘Disk dump for
CP/M ‘Percom making H89, H8 drives ‘Detailed user ratings of top 5 software suppliers ‘Voice synthesizer uses English text
input ‘HDOS executive appointments secretary ‘HUG SY: device driver review ‘More on 8" disk controller ‘MBASIC INP without
buffer garbage ‘EasySoft Despooler for HDOS ‘Keyword in context program for HDOS and CP/M® ‘Software tells time to HDOS
•New version of Epson printer driver ‘Directory revision 4 ‘BUSS Bits.

BUSS #40 — August 19, 1981 ‘Phoneme based voice synthesizer for H8 bus ‘Multilingual H19 ‘Trionyx Z80 CPU for H8
•Another HDOS assembler ‘Walt Bilofsky o n adventuring into computing ‘For Sale ‘T ypesetting service accepts ASCII input
•BUSS adds experienced directory compiler C^HA-8-3 graphics board owner's note #2 y Energy Miser for HDOS ‘Uses H8 in machine
shop; wants device driver help ‘CP/M® communications program "Ll-^^OU newslbuer ‘Help needed with H88 cassette load ‘Disk
recovery program ‘...And loader for lowest 8K of RAM ‘D-G offerings ‘Software Toolworks T-Shirts ‘Random number seed for
Benton Harbor BASIC ‘LPH24 modifications ‘More on UltiMeth H89 monitor ‘Another solution to disk banging ‘Changing a byte
of PIE ‘Patching LPH14.DVD for Vista V300 ‘Centronics 737 device driver enhancement ‘8" & 5.25" floppy disk holders ‘Supplier
update ‘Local club notes ‘BUSS Bits.

BUSS #41 — September 15, 1981 ‘Z89 ^ets drstiT^tiom booat^‘Multistrike ribbon cartridge reloading ‘Improved HDOS status
command ‘Cassette driver for HDOfT"”^^graphics in MBASIC ‘New LPH14 driver ‘Using PIE with DESPOOL
•Keyboard Studio adds 400K drives, word processor ‘ MBASIC monthly expense reports ‘Electrolab s offers Tandon TM 100-4 disk
drives ‘Former Sears programmers describe XtraSoft Experiences of 1> e 'Faster Z80 operation for H19A
•ELIZA for HDOS ‘Circuit analysis in HDOS or CP/M•Zemrnn^Ts^^ index on disk ‘HDOS, CP/M,

UCSD P-System file conversion |E*ASIC^ Interactive calculator and converter for HDOS ‘1147 8" disk

copy program ‘Improved word processor”Trom Sl r’TionVputer TYtT erprises ‘Special offer on voice synthesizer V-8 Model II ‘MCS-48
assembler runs under HDOS MBASIC ‘FOR SALE ‘BUSS Bits.

BUSS #42 — Oc tober 7, 1981 ‘8088 coming for H8; 95 11 arithmetic card price cut ‘Universal printer device driver for HDOS
{^Differences between 40-track and §t)-track disk drived* 118 PC board heat-sink extensions *1189/19 graphics on Epson MX-80;
spelling aid ‘San Francisco firm sets type trom Art'll files ‘HDOS MBASIC stock portfolio manager ‘Dale Buhanan comments on
EDIT19 ‘Dust covers & CP/M® tape backup ‘New version of AM95 11 FORTRAN arithmetic library ‘HDOS Morse code software
and hardware ‘Another (#3) note to HA-8-3 graphics board owners d*5-25" disk drive problem fixeq/^ New versions of VISED and
TPROC ‘H8-7 breadboard with Z80 CPU ‘Assorted fill software • SP E L L a nd EL 1Z A I ro m bo it ware Toolworks ‘Engraved key tops
for H19, Z89 ‘Four drive HDOS ‘Zenith’s double-density controller, 160 track drives, Z90 ‘HFORTH Video Editor ‘FOR SALE
•TocaT^ubliotes ‘Supplier update ‘BUSS Bits.

BUSS #43 — October 21, 1981 ‘BUSS increases telephone accessibility ‘Housemaster board for 1189< ^^ ‘Direct

connect modem for H19, H89 ‘Lu m-Buckles continues Zenith sale ‘Galacti c Warrior & Y-Wing Fighter^*f ile compactoTr"T,
Caverns of the Doomed, SOFTalk (* Disk drive repair service recommende<T) ‘HDOS RTTY programs ‘Writing hints from Sextant
Technical Editor John Walker ‘HDOS FortfT from MCA ‘HDOS MBASIC Personal Files Management ‘Using HDOS dump with 80
track disks ‘H8 computer repair service ‘FOR SALE ‘256 graphic characters for the 1119/89 ‘Supplier update *8" disk controllers
for H8, H89 ‘Local club notes ‘Ronald La Claustra on Sextant and RE Mark ‘BUSS Bits.

BUSS #44 — November 10, 1981 ‘BUSS to celebrate 5th birthday at Computer Faire ‘Heathkit® catalog clarified ‘Enhanced H19
firmware ‘HA-8-3_support for_Pascal MT+}‘H19 processor speeded up to 4 MHz ‘H8/H89 arithmetic processor board standard
proposed ‘UCSD Pascal handbook & communications package ‘CP/M® MBASIC compiler warnings ‘HDOS MBASIC "Morse Code
Tutor" ‘Prices cut by D-G Electronic Developments Co. ‘HDOS & CP/M® MBASIC interstellar combat game with graphics
•CP/M® software for EMI, billing ‘NTS microprocessor course pamphlet index ‘Automatic H89 controller selection supports mixed
hard- and soft-sectored disks ‘Livingston Logic Labs 8" disk controller experiences ‘FOR SALE ‘Four Heath CP/M 8" disk
formats ‘Z89s used by Weather Service ‘Bugs in the Heath Z80? ‘Lloyd Dinkins on competition ‘...and second thoughts from
Ronald La Claustra/^M lcroWTT’^cquaTntances ^ Chicago likely site *119 help wanted ‘4 MHz CPU

for H/Z89, 19) ‘SUBMTT^oFTtDOS*^ and tape backup ‘Supplier update ‘Request fur

assistance -BUSS Bits.

BUSS #45 — December 15, 1981 ‘Maxi-Prin t device drivers for HDOS ‘Talking adventure game ‘Real time clock for H89, H8/Z80

•Z80 panel monitor ‘HDOS MX80 graphics ‘CP/M® MBASIC attorney time and billing ^xperTeMices w 1IIi the Mugnulia UUUbUT

'3ensiT5 r Tontroll^ ‘H19 ACM file ‘HDOS MBA SIC statistics *H 8 gfoUhd connector"kit • > 7l3Tliardw

"‘IviBAS 1C creditcard management ‘Accounting package from XtraSoft ‘HDOS stock market trend ‘Thomas Cutright reports Z89s
used by physicists ‘MicroNET carries Z89-11 report • iviulti-Print spooler for HDOS ‘"A Galactic Experience" for HDOS
•Benchmark program ‘FBE supports graphics, parallel I/O, MX-80 ‘FOR SALE • ’Z100' rumors abound ‘File transfer and
communications for HDOS or CP/M® ‘Najay Systems offers H89 4 MHz instructions ‘Local club notes ‘Experiences with H47,

147, Z89 16K RAM expansion ‘Supplier update ‘HDOS standards clearinghouse proposed ‘BUSS Bits.

BUSS #46 — January 5, 1982 ‘Sextant premiere issue shaping up ‘Sextant classified ads available ‘HDOS MBASIC checking
account super visor * H89 clock/calendar, sound ‘CP/M flight simujator

•Improved HDOS program catalogs HDOS disks, too ‘H89 CP/M®

communications program ‘HDOS UNDELETE, MAZERACE; CP/M STATPTCH ‘Assistance wanted ‘D-G cuts prices on memory
and software ‘Price changes, new modem from M.I.-8 ‘HUG SY: comments ‘FOR SALE ‘Local club notes ‘Spool-N-Go now
supports more disks, printers ‘New version of Video Scribe ‘Supplier update ‘H19/H89 detached keyboard ‘MBASIC MAIL-IT for
HDOS or CP/M £"Pirate“ FighterS) ‘BUSS Bits.

Buss, 325 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E., Washington, DC 20003,202/544-0900.

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